Sports

PCB unveils domestic cricket schedule for 2025

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday unveiled the complete schedule of the men’s domestic cricket tournaments set to take place in the year 2025.

Three first-class tournaments, including the ongoing President’s Trophy Grade-I, will headline Pakistan’s bumper domestic cricket calendar.

Apart from the red-ball, focus will also be placed on white-ball tournaments, which include one 50-over List-A event, three T20 and one non-first-class three-day tournament.

Development cricket has seen some exciting changes as well with the introduction of the U15 and U17 tournaments, and the Champions U19 One-Day Cup and three-day Trophy. These three events will serve as a clear pathway for aspiring and talented cricketers.

A total of 21 domestic, age-group and pathways cricket tournaments are set to take place according the schedule of 2025. This includes a minimum of 131 first-class, 37 50-over List-A and 119 T20 matches.

Additionally, the club, age group, schools, colleges and universities tournaments are set to yield more than 10,000 matches across the country, further creating opportunities for emerging cricketers.

The 18-team National T20 Cup will take place in March and will provide opportunities to players from 16 regions across Pakistan to showcase their talent in the shortest format.

President’s Trophy Grade-II, the non-first-class three-day departmental tournament, will be held in April and May, which will be a battleground for the departments vying for places in the 50-over List-A and first-class departmental tournaments.

The exciting Pakistan Super League 10 will catch the eye-balls in April and May, following which the senior men’s domestic events will come to a three-month halt.

During this time period, the PCB will hold training, fitness and conditioning camps across the 16 regions to get the players ready for the upcoming domestic tournaments, while also preparing for the second half of the year, which again promises to be exciting, competitive and challenging.

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Champions Cup – the two premier first-class tournaments – are set to take place in September and October.

These events will provide the players opportunities to perform in red-ball matches and strengthen their claims for places in the Pakistan Test side.

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The 50-over List-A tournament – President’s Cup Grade-I – is slotted for the November-December window, which will be followed by the second edition of the Champions T20 Cup. The Champions Cup One-Day tournament will be played in January 2026.

On the age-group and Pathways front, the PCB has reassessed the U13 and U16 categories and relaunched them as U15 and U17 to maximise the participation of teenagers in the national tournaments.

The decision also aims at nurturing the talent early and providing the youngsters with plenty of time in their respective age groups to grow and emerge.

The National U19 Cup will be contested between 18 regional teams in September as the top performers of the Inter-District U19 players will progress to regional academies and then take part in this tournament.

After working their way up from the Club and District and Regional level, the best of the best U19 men’s cricketers will be assembled as part of the inaugural five-team Champions U19 Cup and Trophy under the guidance of the five mentors, which is set to take place in October and November.

The District U19 and senior events along with the Inter-Schools, Collegiate and Universities tournaments are also set to take place as usual helping Pakistan cricket widen the talent scouting net in the year 2025.