Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is the national first-class cricket championship in Pakistan. It was launched in 1953–54. The tournament format has been subject to frequent revision. Bahawalpur won the inaugural competition, and the most successful team has been the Karachi Blues. They have won the trophy nine times, most recently in 2012–13.^[1]

2024–25 tournament

For the 2024–25 competition, the number of teams was increased from eight to 18. They were organised into three pools—A, B, and C—of six teams each. The pools operated on a round-robin basis, and the three pool winners qualified for a triangular stage, also a round-robin. The top two in this went on to contest the championship final. The teams in 2024–25 were:

Pool A – Abbottabad, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Larkana, and Lahore Whites.

Pool B – Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Bahawalpur, Karachi Whites, Multan, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi.

Pool C – Dera Murad Jamali, FATA, Karachi Blues, Lahore Blues, Quetta, and Sialkot.

The three pool winners were Lahore Whites, Peshawar, and Sialkot. The latter two qualified for the final, which was played 2–6 January 2025 at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi. Sialkot defeated Peshawar by one wicket.^[2]

2025–26 tournament

The 2025–26 tournament began on 6 October 2025. The number of teams was reduced from 18 to ten: Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, FATA, Islamabad, Karachi Blues, Lahore Whites, Multan, Peshawar, and defending champions Sialkot.^[3] The top six teams in the 2024–25 tournament qualified automatically, and were joined by the top four teams in the 2025 Hanif Mohammad Trophy.^[4]

It is a round-robin tournament in which the teams play each other once. There is a league table, from which the top two teams will play a final match, on 29 November, to decide the championship. Only five grounds are in use. They are:^[3]