The inaugural Champions One-Day Cup is set to take place at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad from 12-29 September. Team mentors of the five sides include Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions) and Waqar Younis (Lions), while the PCB announced the captains and provisional squads on Friday. The tournament featuring the top players across the country will be a 50-over competition played on a single-league format. All matches will start at 3pm, except for the match between Lions and Panthers on September 16, which will begin at 9.30am. Nadeem Khan, Director High-Performance PCB and Tournament Director - Champions Cup, spoke with PCB Digital and highlighted the significance of the tournament, outlining its salient features. “The concept of the Champions One-Day Cup was initiated in April and we launched it in July. The PCB decided to bring together the best of the best players from its local competitions in order to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket. “For the first time, all the five teams have been allocated their respective regional academies so that the players can train and work on their skills throughout the year.

The best thing about the concept is the teams have highly experienced and dedicated mentors who will not only manage the men’s Champions teams but will also be involved at the women’s and age-group cricket, which will have positive effects on Pakistan cricket. “The five high-profile mentors understand the requirements of the international cricket and they will prepare the players accordingly in the domestic competitions. “Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten will be arriving on 12 September to witness the entire Champions One-Day Cup and it will surely be exciting for him to work in the domestic circuit in order to look into the young talent with an eye on the upcoming white-ball assignments in Australia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, followed by the home tri-national series and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. “The Champions One-Day Cup will help us unearth future white-ball prospects for the Pakistan’s white-ball teams, also marking the start of the preparation for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

“Having the Champions Cup in September will allow us to give an extended opportunity to the top performers of this tournament in International cricket before the mega-event commences home. “With all the national players taking part in the Champions One-Day Cup, the intensity and quality of this domestic tournament will only go up and help us determine the emerging players who can thrive and perform under pressure when they represent Pakistan in future. “The squads comprise of a good mixture of young and experienced players, and one of our goals is to provide quality dressing room and on-filed exposure and experience to the emerging and U19 players part of the Champions One-Day Cup squads. “Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (having hosted 24 Tests, 16 ODIs) has been a regular host of international cricket till 2008, but now we have worked actively with the local authorities to bring a high-profile tournament to the city and look forward to a large number of fans attending the Champions One-Day Cup.

“As far as the tournament taking place between two home Test series is concerned, it needs to be understood that this tournament was already in the pipeline since April. All the Boards around the world have their set domestic structures and the tournaments take place according to respective scheduled windows instead of altering them in light of the upcoming home international assignments. “Moreover, the players in this day and age are professional and used to switching between formats that it should not be a huge concern. In fact, their presence has added quality to the first major domestic tournament of the 2024-25 season.”

Credit: Independent News Pakistan