Another domestic overhaul: PCB cuts down QeA trophy, culls Champions Cup tournaments

The PCB has overhauled its domestic structure yet again, featuring a slimmed down Quaid-e-Azam trophy (QeA) with just eight regional teams in it, and culling the much-trumpeted Champions Cup tournaments from the calendar after just one season. Separate tournaments - the President's Trophy and Cup - remain for departmental sides, long a feature of the Pakistan domestic circuit.

One of the biggest potential consequences of cutting down the QeA Trophy from a bloated 18 teams last season to just eight this coming one is that it might not ultimately feature a team from Karachi - the country's biggest city and economic capital - in the country's premier first-class event. Both Karachi Blues and Karachi Whites will play in the non-first class Hanif Mohammad Trophy - one rung below the QeA - based on their finishing positions in last year's QeA Trophy.

At that stage, however, none of the teams were aware that the tournament would be revamped in such a manner whereby, effectively, 12 teams would stand relegated. That tournament will start the domestic season from 15 August and the top-two sides will qualify to play in the QeA Trophy, which would be the route available to a Karachi side to make it through.

Though the status has changed somewhat in recent decades, Karachi has long been a domestic powerhouse, both in terms of trophies won and as a provider of talent. It will not be a change that goes down well with the city's cricket fraternity.

The PCB said it had made the changes in the hopes of "increased competitiveness". The tournament will now be played on a single-league basis, with 29 matches from September 22 to November 7. All the matches will be played at four venues across Islamabad and Rawalpindi, though the PCB did not say why it had restricted the event to the twin cities.

In keeping with the spirt of paring back the calendar, the board has also quietly dropped the Champions Cup series of events. Introduced last season with much publicity and considerable cost, it was pitched as a premier event in each of the game's three formats, featuring five teams and, in theory, the country's best players. A 50-over version was held, as was a T20 event, but the first-class tournament never took place. The tournaments were supposed to bridge the gap between domestic cricket and international cricket, identified by the board as a problem. Those events are now gone, not even finding a mention in the press release.

A 10-team National T20 Cup remains on the calendar, but it comes with a qualifying stage - "to further enhance competitiveness" according to the board - preceding it, with another 10 teams involved. The top two will go through to the Super 10 stage, which will be played in Faisalabad in from March 1 to 12, 2026.

"We are pleased to unveil a domestic structure that places merit, opportunity and competitiveness at its core," PCB's chief operating officer Sumair Ahmed Syed said in a statement. "The 2025-26 season has been designed to provide a clear pathway for teams and players to progress based on performance, not reputation.

"Introducing a qualifier for both the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the National T20 ensures that every match in our domestic calendar carries significant weight. This not only raises the standard of competition but also fosters a high-performance culture across all formats.

"The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will now feature the most in-form and deserving teams, while the Hanif Mohammad Trophy gives 12 regions a meaningful chance to stake their claim. Similarly, the Super 10 format of the National T20 is a step towards creating more high-intensity, quality cricket."

Domestic cricket in Pakistan has undergone structural or format changes nearly every season since the QeA Trophy was first played in 1953-54.