WHAT

The Champions One-Day Cup is a 50-over List A tournament to get the 2024/25 men’s domestic cricket season in Pakistan underway. It marks the inauguration of the new “Champions” system, which sees five participating teams: the Dolphins, Lions, Markhors (formerly Wolves), Panthers, and Stallions. The existing regional and departmental systems that were in place for the 2023/24 season have not been eliminated and will also take place during the course of the season.

WHERE

The entire tournament will be held at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. The venue has seen some upgrades recently and is viewed as a viable option for hosting international cricket (once again) in the future, pending further upgrades and renovation. Net sessions and warm-ups ahead of the tournament saw a decent turnout of fans, indicating the need for mainstream cricket matches to be played outside the main traditional centers of Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi, which host the bulk of high-profile cricket in Pakistan.

Broadcast

• Local channels: PTV Sports, A Sports, Geo Super
• Local live streaming: Tapmad, Tamasha, Myco
• North America: Willow TV

Commentators: Sikandar Bakht, Marina Iqbal, Salman Butt, Shah Faisal, Ali Younis, Meesha Imran (presenter)

WHEN

The 14-match tournament will take place from 12 to 29 September, with one match scheduled to be played each day. The 5 teams will play each other once in a round-robin format. One team will be eliminated at the end of the group stage, with the top 4 progressing to the playoffs.

1. 12 Sep – Markhors v Panthers (3pm)
2. 13 Sep – Stallions v Lions (3pm)
3. 14 Sep – Dolphins v Panthers (3pm)
4. 15 Sep – Markhors v Stallions (3pm)
5. 16 Sep – Lions v Panthers (9:30am)
6. 17 Sep – Dolphins v Markhors (3pm)
7. 19 Sep – Stallions v Dolphins (3pm)
8. 20 Sep – Lions v Markhors (3pm)
9. 21 Sep – Panthers v Stallions (3pm)
10. 22 Sep – Dolphins v Lions (3pm)
11. 24 Sep – Qualifier (Team No.1 v Team No. 2) (3pm)
12. 25 Sep – Eliminator 1 (Team No.3 v Team No.4) (3pm)
13. 27 Sep – Eliminator 2 (Losing Qualifier v Winning Eliminator 2) (3pm)
14. 29 Sep – Final (3pm)

WHO

Each team has a mentor who is the primary figure in each setup. The mentors appointed their respective team captains and selected the teams through a draft process, which consisted of a pool of 150 players provided by the PCB. Out of the 150 players, 125 were leading performers from the past three domestic seasons. The remaining 25 players were wildcards, selected based on their experience and performances for Pakistan, Pakistan Shaheens, and Pakistan Under-19 teams over the last three years. Provisional squads were initially announced for each team, with squads being trimmed down on the eve of the tournament.

DOLPHINS

Final squad: Saud Shakeel (captain), Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Huraira, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Riazullah, Noman Ali, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Sameen Gul, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sufiyan Moqim, Umar Amin, Usman Qadir

Didn’t make the final squad: Aftab Ibrahim, Awais Ali, Kashif Ali, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori

Support staff: Sarfaraz Ahmed (mentor), Ahmed Raza (manager), Iqbal Imam (head coach), Abdul Saad (fielding coach), Faisal Raza (masseur), Hafiz Ali Hamza (analyst), Imtiaz (physiotherapist), Mohammad Masroor (batting coach), Sajid Shah (fast bowling coach), Tahir Mahmood (spin bowling coach), Taimoor Mahmood (strength and conditioning)

LIONS

Final squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Yamin, Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Taha, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rohail Nazir, Sajjad Ali Hashmi, Sharoon Siraj, Sirajuddin

Didn’t make the final squad: Hassan Nawaz, Hunain Shah (injured during pre-tournament camp), Imran Butt, Shahab Khan, Waqar Hussain

Support staff: Waqar Younis (mentor), Rahat Abbas Asadi (manager), Abdur Rehman (head coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Aizaz Cheema (fast bowling coach), Faisal Rai (analyst), Imranullah (strength and conditioning coach), Malang Ali (masseur), Riffatullah Mohmand (batting coach), Saeed Anwar Jnr (spin bowling coach), Ubaid Ullah (physiotherapist)

MARKHORS

Final squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Abdul Samad, Akif Javed, Ali Usman, Bismillah Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haseebullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Muhammad Imran, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mehmood

Didn’t make the final squad: Bilawal Bhatti, Nisar Ahmed, Zain Abbas

Support staff: Misbah-ul-Haq (mentor), Qasim Ali Paracha (manager), Ijaz Ahmed Jnr (head coach), Khurram Shehzad (batting coach), Mohammad Salman (fielding coach), Muhammad Shahid (masseur), Nabeel Pace (analyst), Saeed Ajmal (spin bowling coach), Samiullah Niazi (fast bowling coach), Syed Mohammad Asad (physiotherapist), Yasir Malik (strength & conditioning coach)

PANTHERS

Final squad: Shadab Khan (captain), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ahmed Bashir, Amad Butt, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Umar, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mubasir Khan, Rizwan Mehmood, Saim Ayub, Umar Siddiq, Usama Mir, Usman Khan

Didn’t make the final squad: Ali Asfand, Ali Raza, Rehan Afridi, Usman Salahuddin

Support staff: Saqlain Mashtaq (mentor), Sharjeel Khurram Bhatti (manager), Umar Rasheed (head coach), Imran Farhat (batting coach), Javed Sheikh (strength and conditioning coach), Mohtashim Rasheed (fielding coach), Mohammad Ibrahim (analyst), Muhammad Ehsan (masseur), Tahir (physiotherapist), Zafar Iqbal (fast bowling coach), Zulfiqar Babar (spin bowling coach)

STALLIONS

Final squad: Mohammad Haris (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Adil Amin, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Jahandad Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Amir Khan, Saad Khan, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Ubaid Shah, Yasir Khan, Zaman Khan

Didn’t make the final squad: Azam Khan, Junaid Ali, Maaz Sadaqat, Shamyl Hussain

Support staff: Shoaib Malik (mentor), Mohammad Ali Shahzad (manager), Mansoor Amjad (head coach), Abdur Rehman (spin bowling coach), Bilal Munir (strength & conditioning coach), Faisal Naveed (batting coach), Hafiz Majid (fielding coach), Mohammad Ahsan Ehsan (analyst), Mohammad Mustaqeem (masseur), Tanvir (physiotherapist), Umaid Asif (fast bowling coach)

Players to miss out

Unavailable:

• Azam Khan, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim (CPL)
• Mohammad Abbas (County)
• Ahmed Shehzad, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Ilyas, Umar Akmal (personal reasons)
• Khurram Shahzad (recovering from injury)

Undergoing rehab at NCA: Arshad Iqbal, Hassan Ali, Ihsanullah, Mohammad Wasim jr, Ahsan Ali, Athar Mahmood, Rizwan Hussain, Zeeshan Zameer

Failed fitness tests: Ali Shafique, Ali Zaryab, Arif Yaqoob, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Rameez jr, Saad Baig, Rameez Aziz, Sharjeel Khan, Shawaiz Irfan