PCB unveils domestic cricket schedule for 2025–26 season

The season will begin with the Hanif Mohammad Trophy on August 15

PHOTO: PCB

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced the domestic cricket schedule for the 2025–26 season, introducing a more competitive and merit-based structure.

The season will begin with the Hanif Mohammad Trophy on August 15 across Karachi, Multan, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan. Twelve regional teams have been split into two pools, with the top two finalists set to qualify for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which begins on September 22.

The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy has been reduced from 18 to just 8 teams. Six sides—Lahore Region Blues, Sialkot, Peshawar, Islamabad, Abbottabad, and Bahawalpur—have qualified automatically based on last season's points table, while the remaining two will come from the Hanif Mohammad Trophy final.

This change puts Karachi, one of Pakistan’s most successful cricket regions with a record 21 titles, at risk of missing out on the country’s top first-class tournament for the first time. Karachi has no team among the six direct qualifiers and must now fight through the Hanif Mohammad Trophy to earn a spot.

The National T20 Cup will also feature a qualifier stage involving 10 teams. The top two will join eight directly qualified sides—including Karachi Region Blues and Whites—in the National T20 Super 10, set to take place in Faisalabad from March 1 to 12, 2026.

The domestic calendar also includes the President’s Trophy (first-class), President’s Cup (one-day), and Grade II and III tournaments, along with a wide range of youth, school, college, and inter-district competitions aimed at broad talent development.

Tentative schedule for men’s domestic season 2025–26: