PCB announces schedules of longer-formats National U19 tournaments

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced the schedules of the National U19 Championship and the National U19 Cup, slated to commence on September 15 and September 19, respectively.

The National U19 Championship is a red-ball tournament, comprising 27 three-day matches, and will be contested by 20 teams from 16 regional sides. Amongst the 16 regions, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Sialkot will have two teams each in the tournament.

As per the details shared by the cricket board, the 20 participating teams are divided into four groups of five, with Group A featuring Abbottabad Region, AJK Region, Faisalabad Region, Rawalpindi Region and Sialkot Whites Region, while Group B comprises Bahawalpur Region, Islamabad Region, Karachi Whites Region, Lahore Blues Region and Peshawar Whites Region.

Group C, meanwhile, FATA Region, Lahore Whites Region, Larkana Region, Multan Region, Quetta Region, while Dera Murad Jamali Region, Hyderabad Region, Karachi Blues Region, Peshawar Blues Region and Sialkot Blues Region are slotted in Group D.

As per the tournament format, each team will play all of their groupmates in the league stage, following which the top two teams from each group will advance into the quarter-finals.

The red-ball tournament will run simultaneously with the 50-over domestic tournament, National U19 Cup, which will feature the same 20 teams, placed in the same groups as that of the National U19 Championship, besides following the same format.

According to the PCB, the final of National U19 Cup will be staged on October 24, while the final of the National U19 Championship, which will be a four-day affair, will be played from November 3 to 6, with the venues for both summit clash set to be announced in due course.

The cricket board further shared that the tournaments, which will feature 400 players, will provide them with an opportunity to earn selection for the Pakistan U19 team for future international assignments.