The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the Pakistan Men’s Domestic Cricket Calendar for the 2026-27 season, featuring a detailed plan to enhance the domestic cricket framework and boost the country’s pool of talent for future international assignments.
The domestic season is underway from August 11, 2026 to June 15, 2027, with a schedule of high quality tournaments of all formats including age-group, district, school, first-class, List-A & T20.
Pakistan’s preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 in South Africa are a key aspect of the upcoming season.
In support of this objective, the PCB has organised two List-A tournaments, early in the domestic season, where national and emerging players will ensure they get exposure to 50-over match experience before the international fixtures.
The biggest revamp for the new season is the cricket regional structure.
Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Sialkot will each have two teams, the only cities to have two teams.
This change is believed to widen the pool of players. This will improve the chances of people around the country being instructed in playing professional cricket.
The prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will now have two divisions of first-class.
The top eight teams within each region of the previous season will play in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold, while the former Hanif Mohammad Trophy has been elevated to first-class status, and renamed as the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Silver.
The Gold division will take place from November 1 to December 17 in Islamabad, Peshawar, Abbottabad and Rawalpindi with teams playing seven matches each before the final between the top two teams.
There are 12 teams in the Silver division, which will include the newly formed Sialkot and Peshawar teams, as well as the former Hanif Mohammad Trophy teams.
The bottom Gold team will be demoted to Silver and the winner of Silver will be promoted to the Gold team for the next term, 2027-28.
There will also be an opportunity for the National T20 Cup to follow a two-tier format.
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This Silver competition will be held in Lahore from 5th February to 19th February 2027, involving 12 teams.
The two finalists will advance to the Gold division, which will feature 10 teams from Feb. 23-26.
The domestic structure will remain strong with departmental cricket continuing to be a vital part of the game.
There will be eight teams competing in the President’s Cup Grade-I List-A tournament in Karachi from August 21 to 9.
Meanwhile, the President’s Trophy Grade-I first class competition and the Gold and Silver tournaments of Grade-II competitions will commence in various cities on September 12, keeping around 34 departmental teams active throughout the season.
The PCB has also enhanced its age-group pathway. In this regard, there will be a two-day National U19 Championship and a 50-over National U19 Cup that will be played in Faisalabad, Peshawar, Sialkot and Multan from September 15 to November 6 featuring 20 regional U19 teams.
Additionally the U15 One Day Cup, U17 Two Day Cup will remain in place and player trials for the U15, U17 and U19 district teams will be held in September.
District competitions, such as the District Challenge League, Inter-District senior tournament and U19 events will take place at a grassroots level from November 2026 to June 2027.
Also read: PCB unveils President’s Trophy Grade One tournament schedule
