The Champions One-Day Cup, featuring the country’s 150 best of the best cricketers, will be played at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from September 12-29, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Wednesday.
The opening match will be played between the Wolves and Panthers. The full team names and 15-player squads will be unveiled in the coming days.
The 50-over tournament will be played in a single-league format with the matches to commence at 3pm. There will be three playoffs in four days with the final on Sunday, 29 September.
Except for the 16 September match between Lions and Panthers, which will commence at 9.30am local time, all other 13 matches will begin at 3pm. Lions and Panthers will lock horns in a morning match to allow Pakistan women’s versus South Africa women’s T20I to be broadcast live.
Event schedule (all matches at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad)
12 Sep – Wolves v Panthers
13 Sep – Stallions v Lions
14 Sep – Dolphins v Panthers
15 Sep – Wolves v Stallions
16 Sep – Lions v Panthers
17 Sep – Dolphins v Wolves
19 Sep – Stallions v Dolphins
20 Sep – Lions v Wolves
21 Sep – Panthers v Stallions
22 Sep – Dolphins v Lions
24 Sep – Qualifier (Team No.1 v Team No. 2)
25 Sep – Eliminator 1 (Team No.3 v Team No.4)
27 Sep – Eliminator 2 (Losing Qualifier v Winning Eliminator 2)
29 Sep - Final
Note: 16 Sep match will start at 9.30am, rest of the matches will start at 3pm
On Monday, PCB announced five team mentors of the upcoming Champions Cup. Sarfaraz Ahmed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Malik and Waqar Younis were confirmed as mentors of the sides on three-year contracts following a transparent and robust recruitment process.
