With the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2023-24 season concluded, Pakistan’s cricketing excitement shifts to the limited-overs format as the Pakistan Cup and Hanif Mohammad Cup 2023-24 are set to commence from Wednesday, November 1. This action-packed white-ball List A tournament will feature 31 matches played with 45 overs per side and will take place across four venues in Abbottabad, Rawalpindi, and Mirpur.
The day will begin with the toss at 09:00, and the first ball will be bowled at 09:30. Matches held at the Pindi Cricket Stadium will be available for live streaming on ARY ZAP in Pakistan and will be broadcast live on YouTube in overseas territories.
The Pakistan Cup will introduce a modified format, deviating from the previous domestic structure. In line with the revised 2014 PCB Constitution, this year’s tournament will include eight teams: Faisalabad Region, FATA Region, Karachi Region Whites, Lahore Region Blues, Lahore Region Whites, Multan Region, Peshawar Region, and Rawalpindi Region.
The opening round will feature intriguing matchups, with Lahore Whites taking on Lahore Blues at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Peshawar facing Karachi Whites at Mirpur Cricket Stadium, AJK, Peshawar competing against Multan at Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, and FATA squaring off against Rawalpindi at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.
The tournament will follow a round-robin format, with each team playing against the other once. The top four teams from this phase will advance to the semi-finals. The first semi-final will feature the No.1 team facing the No.4 team on November 16, while the second semi-final will involve the second and third-placed teams on November 17. The final showdown is scheduled for November 19, and all these knockout matches will be hosted at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.
In the previous Pakistan Cup edition (2022-23), Central Punjab emerged victorious, defeating Balochistan by 50 runs at State Bank Stadium, Karachi. The tournament’s Player of the Tournament was all-rounder Amad Butt from Balochistan, who excelled with 365 runs and 19 wickets. Tayyab Tahir and Usama Mir, both from Central Punjab, were the top run-scorer and wicket-taker, respectively.
Simultaneously, the Hanif Mohammad Cup 2023-24, a one-day tournament, will commence on November 1, hosted in four venues in Mirpur, Faisalabad, Multan, and Rahim Yar Khan. In a similar format to the non-first-class Hanif Mohammad Trophy, the participating ten teams have been divided into two groups of five teams.
The teams participating in the Hanif Mohammad Cup are Abbottabad Region, AJK Region, Bahawalpur Region, Hyderabad Region, Islamabad Region, Karachi Region Blues, Larkana Region, Dera Murad Jamali Region, Sialkot Region, and Quetta Region. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Four stage, where the team topping the Super Four stage will be declared the winner of the Hanif Mohammad Cup. Cricket enthusiasts can look forward to an exciting season of limited-overs action in Pakistan.
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