Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced its decision to launch Champions domestic tournaments to revolutionise the country’s existing cricketing ecosystem and bridge the existing gap with international cricket.

Speaking at a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said that the board will organise the Champions One-Day Cup, T20 Cup and First-Class Cup which will bring together the most talented and consistent performers from domestic cricket with the board’s centrally contracted players. The development comes as the board has been under scrutiny owing to the men’s side’s poor performances in mega events including the Asia Cup 2023 as well as the team’s early exit from this year’s T20I World Cup 2024 where the Green Shirts even failed to progress to the Super Eight stage of the tournament. The PCB chief, in recent times, has held meetings with former cricketers to discuss various matters, including domestic cricket, to improve the country’s cricket infrastructure and ecosystem. Flanked by PCB’s Chief Operating Officer Salman Nasser and newly-appointed Adviser on Cricket Affairs Waqar Younis, Naqvi said that the team’s current ranking in all three formats does not reflect the true potential and legacy of Pakistan’s cricket.

Highlighting the need to innovate and strategically enhance, expand and strengthen our domestic structure, the PCB chairman said that the Champions tournaments will allow cricketers at the domestic level to experience an environment that mirrors the intensity of international cricket.  With the addition of Champions tournaments, the PCB will now organise a total of 261 matches across eight men’s senior tournaments. Meanwhile, the Champions T20 Cup will be played from December 21 to January 2, whereas the Champions First-Class Cup is scheduled to take place from May 28 to       August 5.