Pakistan’s National Champions Cup will provide selectors with an important opportunity to assess players ahead of next year’s 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The seven-match tournament, featuring Pakistan Greens, Gold, Whites and Blues, will be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium, with the final scheduled for Aug 18. Each squad consists of 11 players and three reserves.
Shadab Khan will captain Greens, Saim Ayub will lead Whites, Sahibzada Farhan will head Blues, while ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi will lead Gold. The opening match between Greens and Whites will be followed by Blues versus Gold on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s selectors and white-ball head coach Mike Hesson will closely monitor performances, with the tournament expected to influence the selection pecking order ahead of the World Cup. Hesson has also briefed the coaching staff of all four teams on the national team’s preparations.
The competition follows a two-month white-ball training camp at the National Cricket Academy and will offer several players their first extended competitive outing since the camp.
Shaheen said the main objective was to develop reliable backups for every position, particularly in case of injuries. Players have also been assigned specific roles to allow the team management to assess their performances in different match situations.
Several players on the fringes of the national side, including Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Nawaz and Haider Ali, will be looking to strengthen their claims.
For Saim Ayub, the tournament is also an opportunity to regain rhythm in 50-over cricket after spending much of the past year playing T20 cricket.
The players have been training in Multan since Aug 8 and are also expected to adapt to the city’s hot and humid conditions. Despite the selection implications, the four captains said winning matches remained their primary objective.
Shaheen, who is currently Pakistan’s ODI captain, declined to comment on whether he had received assurances about leading the team at the 2027 World Cup, saying only that he was “the captain for now”.
The PCB has allocated Rs8.15 million in prize money. The winners will receive Rs5m and the runners-up Rs2.5m, while the player of the tournament, best batter, best bowler and best wicketkeeper will each receive Rs100,000.
