Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam, two of Pakistan’s biggest names, will go head-to-head when the 69th Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins Tuesday, with Shaheen leading FATA against Babar’s Lahore Whites at the Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad.

The four-day contest means a lot to both players. For Babar, the Test captain, it is his last match practice before the first Test against Sri Lanka begins at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Nov. 9. For Shaheen, who was left out of the Test squad, it is a chance to press his case for a return to the red-ball side.

Babar arrives desperately short of form, confidence and runs. He has not scored a Test century since the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand in Karachi in 2022, and the pressure is mounting, although he has the support of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the selectors and some influential former cricketers.

In seven Tests in the current World Test Championship cycle, he has made 536 runs at 44.66 with five fifties and a highest score of 88, and he took over the captaincy from Shan Masood after the Bangladesh tour.

Babar’s red-ball preparation has been thin, with only two President’s Trophy matches for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited. He remains a key, champion player, and the growth of this Test side depends on his getting the monkey off his back.

Shaheen has played three Tests in this cycle, taking 10 wickets with a best of four for 33, but has not been selected since the Bangladesh tour. He has expressed interest in Test cricket, although he played only one President’s Trophy match, for Khan Research Laboratories. He is not among the five fast bowlers in contention for the two slots to be filled after the three-day match against Sri Lanka, so a strong performance in Islamabad would help his case.

Shaheen leads an attack that includes Sirajuddin and Shahid Aziz, who took 23 and 21 wickets for State Bank of Pakistan in the President’s Trophy. FATA’s next match is against Rizwan’s Peshawar Blues at the same ground from Nov. 9.

Babar is not the only Test squad member in the mix.

The defending champions, Karachi Blues, are captained by Saud Shakeel and include wicketkeeper Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, with Abdullah Fazal and Saad Baig in their reserves and national duty pool.

Multan’s pool includes Arafat Minhas, Sameer Minhas and Ali Usman, Sialkot Blues’ pool includes Azan Awais, and Razaullah is in Abbottabad’s Silver squad.

Abdullah, Saad, Sameer, Ali Usman and Azan are also in the Patron’s XI for the three-day match against Sri Lanka at the Islamabad Club from Nov. 4-6, which will limit their availability.

Mohammad Suleman (Hyderabad, Silver) and Mohammad Taha (Karachi Whites, Silver), who scored 652 and 730 runs in the President’s Trophy, are named in their squads but will miss the first few matches because of their national commitments.

Mohammad Abbas and Salman Ali Agha, both in the Test squad, are not named in any roster, with workload management the likely reason, though the PCB has not said. Both played in the President’s Trophy, where Abbas took a five-wicket haul in the final and Salman scored 300.

Several players left out of the Test squad are among the tournament’s biggest names. Mohammad Rizwan captains Peshawar Blues, Imam-ul-Haq leads Multan and Abdullah Shafique captains Sialkot Blues.

Imam-ul-Haq, who leads Multan, and Mohammad Rizwan, who captains Peshawar Blues, both left out of the Test squad, return to domestic cricket with a story of their own. The two were sent home from London after the Lord’s Test and are facing investigations by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). Neither the NCCIA nor the PCB has commented. They missed the first six rounds of the President’s Trophy but were allowed to play the seventh and final round, with strong results. Imam made an unbeaten 200 for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in a draw against Ghani Glass, though OGDCL were still relegated. Rizwan scored 64 and 27 as Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited beat Khan Research Laboratories by four wickets and avoided relegation.

Saim Ayub, who withdrew from the tri-series to work on his batting in domestic cricket, is in Karachi Blues’ roster, and Sajid Khan, with 77 Test wickets, is with Peshawar Blues.

Shan Masood, who is recovering from a hamstring injury that has ruled him out of the Sri Lanka Tests, is listed in Karachi Blues’ reserves.

In the Silver tier, Fakhar Zaman, fresh from his 127 in the tri-series final, is in Abbottabad’s squad, one of the two teams relegated from Gold along with Bahawalpur.

Eight teams play in the Gold tier from Nov. 3 to Dec. 12, with the final between the top two sides on Dec. 15-19. A 12-team Silver tier, in two groups of six, runs in parallel as the pathway to Gold, with group matches from Nov. 3 to 30 and a five-day final on Dec. 3-7.

Both tiers have first-class status, and the Silver winners will be promoted to Gold next season.

Peshawar and Sialkot have two teams each for the first time, and the 60 first-class matches (29 in Gold, 31 in Silver) will be played across Islamabad, Abbottabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur.

 

FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE (3-6 NOV)

GOLD

Karachi Blues v Sialkot Blues, National Cricket Ground, Islamabad

Faisalabad v Peshawar Blues, Abbottabad Cricket Stadium

Lahore Whites v FATA, Diamond Cricket Ground

Islamabad v Multan, Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium

SILVER

Lahore Blues v Rawalpindi, SBP Sports Complex, Karachi (Group A)

Larkana v Quetta, UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Group A)

Bahawalpur v Peshawar Whites, KCCA Stadium, Karachi (Group A)

Karachi Whites v AJK, Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan (Group B)

Hyderabad v DM Jamali, Sports Complex Rahim Yar Khan (Group B)

Abbottabad v Sialkot Whites, Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur (Group B)

QUAID-E-AZAM TROPHY TEAM ROSTERS (Teams will have revolving rosters throughout the tournament where they will have 15 travelling members and can also pick players from reserves or national duty pool).

GOLD

Faisalabad – Mohammad Irfan Khan (captain), Abdul Samad (vc), Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ali Asfand, Ali Shan (wk), Asad Raza, Asim Ali Nasir (wk), Atiq-ur-Rehman, Faheem Ashraf, Faham-ul-Haq (U21), Khurram Shahzad, Malik Abdul Rafay, Mohammad Awais Zafar, Sameer Saqib, Shehzad Gul. Daniyal Ali Khan, Mudasir Zunair, Ali Hassan, Mohammad Afzal, Saifullah Khan (all reserves). Samiullah Niazi (head coach)

FATA – Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Mohammad Farooq (U21), Salman Khan Jnr, Kashif Noor, Mohammad Sarwar, Mohammad Wasim Khan, Khushdil Shah, Shahid Aziz, Rehan Afridi (wk), Afaq Afridi, Sameen Gul, Sirajuddin, Hayatullah, Fawad Arshad, Mohammad Usman Khan, Kashif Noor, Adnan Khan. Akif Javed, Kashif Noor, Khyalman (wk), Mohammad Tahir (U21), Adnan Khan, Mohammad Usman Khan (Reserves + National Duty (available for selection when free or needed). Riaz Afridi (head coach)

Islamabad – Shamyl Hussain (captain), Raja Hamza Waheed, Ali Imran, Azim Bari, Sarmad Bhatti, Mohammad Hammad Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Azan Tariq, Rohail Nazir (wk), Musa Khan, Mohammad Waeem Jnr, Sajid Raza, Mohammad Qaiser, Asfand Yar, Umer Hameed. Shahid Islam, Sudais Ulfat, Rizwan Ali (wk), Mohammad Qaiser, Mohammad Sufyan (all reserves). Naveed Latif (head coach)

Karachi Blues – Saud Shakeel (captain), Saim Ayub, Omair Bin Yousuf, Abdul Basit, Umer Farooq (U21), Danish Aziz, Saifullah Bangash, Rameez Aziz, Usman Khan (wk), Haroon Arshad (U21), Afnan Khan, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Umar, Mohammad Hamza Sohail, Mohammad Raza Chandio, Asad Umar (U21). Shan Masood (recovering from injury), Abrar Ahmed, Zaryab Shah (U21), Wahaj Riaz, Abdullah Fazal, Saad Baig, Saqib Khan, Rizwanullah (U21), Niqab Shafiq (U21) and Mir Hamza (Reserves + National Duty (available for selection when free or needed). Syed Iqbal Imam (head coach)

Lahore Whites – Aamir Jamal (captain), Babar Azam, Ali Zaryab, Mohib Haider, Mohammad Faiq, Mohammad Imran, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Akhlaq, Zain Bin Farooq (wk), Noman Ali, Mohammad Kamran Afzal, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Zulqarnain, Hunain Shah. Usman Sohail, Noman Latif, Hussain Talat, Hamza Zahoor (wk), Aalyan Salman, Ahmed Daiyal (Reserves + National Duty (available for selection when free or needed). Aizaz Cheema (head coach)

Multan – Imam-ul-Haq (captain), Uzair Mumtaz, Yousuf Babar, Moheer Saeed (U21), Sharoon Siraj, Imran Rafiq, Waseem Akram Jnr, Mohammad Ismail (U21), Mohammad Shan (U21), Aamer Yamin, Hasan Hafeez (U21), Faisal Akram, Bilal Khan (U21), Waqar Ahmed (WK). Mohammad Basit, Ilman Khan, Alam Zaib, Rana Adeel, Bilal Ahmad, Arafat Minhas, Sameer Minhas, Mohammad Shahzad, Ali Usman (Reserves + National Duty (available for selection when free or needed). Fahad Masood (head coach)

Peshawar Blues – Mohammad Rizwan (captain, wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Israrullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Najab Khan (U21), Nabi Gul, Mohammad Haleem, Sajid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir Khan, Niaz Khan, Mohammad Adnan (U21). Mohammad Seyam, Sahibzada Abdullah, Mohammad Haleem, Najeebullah, Mohammad Wisal (all reserves). Abdul Rehman (head coach)

Sialkot Blues – Abdullah Shafique (captain), Mohammad Tayyab Arif (vc), Hamza Sheraz, Mohammad Huraira, Ahmed Hassan, Mohsin Riaz, Mohammad Abdul Rehman, Hamza Nazar, Mohammad Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Hasan Ali, Ammad Butt, Athar Mehmood, Shahzaib Bhatti, Tayyab Ali, Afzaal Manzoor (wk). Ali Raza, Rahatullah (wk), Azan Awais, Shoaib Akhtar Jnr (Reserves + National Duty (available for selection when free or needed). Shahid Yousuf (head coach)

SILVER

Abbottabad – Khalid Usman (captain), Shahzaib Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Fakhar Zaman, Zain Ishaq, Ahmed Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mohammad Riazullah, Umair Badshah, Mohammad Shayan, Arshad Iqbal, Razaullah, Israr Hussain, Aqib Khan, Junaid Ahmed, Khayyam Khan, Mehroz Rasheed, Aftab Khan, Mohammad Arif, Khan Zaib. Saqib Faqir (head coach)

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) – Hasan Raza (captain), Husnain Nadeem (U21), Hamad Islam, Hassan Ali, Umer Hayat, Mohammad Ammar (U21), Saad Mumtaz, Naveed Malik, Awais Akram (wk), Aqib Liaqat, Sufyan Moqim, Zaman Khan, Mohammad Faizan Saleem, Mohammad Jawad, Adil Azad, Usman Maroof, Aman Arshad, Usman Yousuf, Raja Farhan (wk), Shadab Majeed. Nadeem Afzal (head coach).

Bahawalpur – Mohammad Imran Randhawa (captain), Mohammad Ammar (U21), Mohammad Aon Shahzad, Ali Hamza Wasim, Mohammad Sudais, Mohammad Alamgir, Mohammad Shahiryar, Ali Afzal, Mohammad Umair, Mohammad Akram (wk), Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Khaqan Bashir, Mohammad Azab, Mohammad Basit, Shoaib Manzoor, Ali Shabbir (U21), Rana Mohammad Burhan Basharat, Mohammad Faizan Zafar, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Huzaifa (U21), Ibrar Amin, Amjad Ali, Hasnain Majid (wk), Mohammad Nabeel Arshad (wk), Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Younis. Ghulam Ali (head coach)

Dera Murad Jamali – Fahad Hussain (captain), Nasir Khan, Aqib Junaid, Mohammad Uzair, Ubaid Ullah, Taimur Ali, Dawood Khan, Mohammad Deen, Mohammad Shahid, Shahbaz Ali (wk), Abu Huraira, Saleem Mal, Farhan Ullah, Abu Bakar, Allah Bakhsh, Mohammad Ali, Shahid Khan, Sajjad Ahmed, Atal Khan, Mir Hazar (wk), Sajjad Ali. Hussain Khosa (head coach)

Hyderabad – Saad Khan (captain), Zain-ul-Abdin (U21), Mohammad Saddam, Haris Khan, Ubaidullah Rahupoto (U21), Mohammad Suleman, Daniyal Hussain Rajput, Rizwan Mehmood, Nabeel Ahmed (wk), Jawad Ali, Asad Malik, Mohammad Hasnain, Mustafa Nasir, Ayaz Khan (U21), Mohammad Umair (U21), Mohammad Ahsan (U21), Mohammad Sikandar, Akbar Khan (wk), Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Waleed. Azeem Ghumman (head coach)

Karachi Whites – Jahanzaib Sultan (captain), Mohammad Taha, Aibaad Khan (U21), Mohammad Usman Rahim, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (U21), Huzaifa Ahsan (U21), Mohammad Taha Mehmood, Kashif Ali, Ghulam Ashraf (wk), Saifullah, Rehman Ghani, Maaz Khurram Amin, Fahad Amin, Abdul Rauf (U21), Asadullah Hamza, Imran Shah, Mohammad Ali Butt, Sabeh Siddiqui, Fahad Ansari (wk), Syed Shah Raza Naqvi, Najeeb-ur-Rehman, Arif Yaqoob, Mohammad Makki, Mohammad Azaan (U21), Asad Akhtar. Saeed Bin Nasir (head coach)

Lahore Blues – Imran Butt (captain), Umer Siddiq, Mohammad Saleem, Hashim Ibrahim, Qasim Akram, Ali Razzaq, Ali Hassan Baloch, Obaid Shahid, Khawaja Mohammad Abdullah (wk), Sajjad Khan, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Zahid, Ahmed Bashir, Nisar Ahmed, Samama Riaz, Mohammad Huzaifa Shujaat, Mohsin Irshad, Sagar Ali (wk). Ashraf Ali (head coach)

Larkana – Zahid Mehmood (captain), Malhar Rasool, Mohammad Ibrahim (U21), Mohammad Aqeel Danish, Sabit Ali, Ghulam Raza, Ishfaque Ahmed, Najaf Ali (U21), Faraz Aziz, Asif Ali Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Nawaz (U21), Mohammad Mustafa, Mohsin Raza (wk), Shahzaib Aziz (U21), Feroz Alii (U21), Mohammad Umer, Umer Khalid, Mohammad Saboor. Faisal Ather (head coach)

Peshawar Whites – Waqar Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Mohsin Khan, Mohammad Amir Barki, Abubakar Khan, Abbas Ali, Adil Amin, Sajjad, Adil Khan (U21), Haris Khan, Mujtaba Khan, Abuzar Tariq, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Mohammad Abuzar, Mohammad Shoaib Afridi, Afqar Durrani, Salman Khan, Sarmad Khattak, Azam Khan, Ahmad Hussain, Usman Tariq, Ihsanullah. Mohammad Saddiq (head coach)

Quetta – Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (captain), Bismillah Khan (wk), Salahuddin, Shahzad, Hazrat Wali, Nadeem Ahmed, Abdul Ghafar, Mohammad Umar (U21), Haseebullah (wk), Syed Zain Ullah, Mohammad Ibrahim Snr, Najeebullah Achakzai, Khalil Ahmed (U21), Muhamamad Ghous, Naqeebullah, Ghulam Nabi, Zulfiqar Ali, Eshan Ullah, Bilal Ahmed, Abdul Hameed. Wajahatullah Wasti (head coach)

Rawalpindi – Mohammad Nawaz (captain), Yasir Khan, Abdul Faseeh, Affan Ishaq (U21), Nasir Nawaz, Mehran Mumtaz, Haider Ali, Mubasir Khan, Aqib Shah, Shehbaz Tabraiz Kyani, Kashif Ali, Mohammad Nabeel (U21), Mohammad Faizan Ghani, Badruddin, Taimur Khan (wk), Abdul Qadir (wk), Jahandad Khan, Shadab Khan, Saad Masood, Raza-ul-Mustafa (wk). Afaq Raheem (head coach)

Sialkot Whites – Mohammad Husnain Khan (captain), Khawaja Arham, Aashir Mehmood, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Tayyab, Qasim Sajjad, Mohammad Hammad Sarwar, Rizwan Ahmed, Mubashir Aslam, Abdullah Nawaz, Salman Aslam, Abdul Rehman Saad, Sharjeel Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Raza Shahzaib (wk), Musa Azeem, Saleem, Ameer Hassan, Syed Hussain Sajjad Bukhari, Mohammad Taha Tariq (wk). Shahzad Malik (head coach)