Bureau Report
Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the schedule for the 2020-21 domestic season, starting from September 30 with National T20 Cup.
The National T20 Cup 1st XI tournament to be held in Multan and Rawalpindi from 30 September to 18 October, while Lahore will host 2nd XI matches from 1-8 October.
National U19 tournaments will be played in Lahore, Muridke, and Sheikhupura from 13 October to 29 November.
“The National T20 Cup and the National U19 One-Day Tournament have been scheduled at the start of the season to enable all the top performers to have the opportunity to attract interest from the franchises prior to the HBL PSL 2020 draft in November,” PCB said in a statement.
The Pakistan Cup One-Day Tournament will be played from 8-31 January, after which the domestic season will conclude with the PCB’s marquee event, the Pakistan Super League 2021, starting in February.
All four-day first-class matches will start from 25 October and the event will conclude with the five-day final starting on 1 January. Second XI three-day matches will be played from 18 October to 13 December.
Read also: Domestic season 2020-21 kicks off September 30
“Due to COVID-19 precautions, travel for players and officials will be restricted for all Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches during the 2020-2021 season, resulting in all matches being played at grounds in Karachi. In addition, staging the tournament in Karachi will help mitigate the risk of bad weather conditions, such as fog and dew, seriously intervening in matches at that time of year,” PCB added in its statement.
The schedule of international series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, PSL 2021 as well as women’s, U13 and U16 boys events will be confirmed in due course.
PCB 2020-21 domestic schedule:
National T20 Cup 1st XI (33 matches) – 30 September to 18 October; Multan and Rawalpindi
National T20 Cup 2nd XI (15 matches) – 1-8 October; Lahore
National U19 One-Day Tournament (31 matches) – 13 October to 2 November; Lahore, Muridke, and Sheikhupura
National U19 Three-Day Tournament (16 matches) – 5-29 November; Lahore, Muridke and Sheikhupura
HBL PSL 2020 (4 matches) – 14, 15 and 17 November; Lahore
Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 1st XI (31 matches) – 25 October to 5 January 2021; Karachi
Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2nd XI (30 matches) – 18 October to 13 December; Karachi
Pakistan Cup 1st XI (33 matches) – 8-31 January 2021; Karachi
Pakistan Cup 2nd XI (15 matches) – 16-24 December; Karachi
