National T20 Cup Pakistan
National T20 Cup Pakistan: participating teams
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cricket team
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National T20 Cup Pakistan - all about the tournament
Cricket is an important and beloved sport in Pakistan, almost a religion. To illustrate this, we will give just a couple of figures: this country became independent шт 1947, and it received the Test Match Status ICC already in 1952. In the same year, it played its first international test match, India became a rival. The National T20 Cup Pakistan is one of the most important regional cricket tournaments in this country. Let’s talk about it in more detail.
Foundation and history of the tournament
The Tournament National T20 Cup Pakistan – one of the newest in the country’s history, for the first time this tournament was held in the 2004/05 season, it was then called ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup. A few years later, the name changed to RBS Twenty-20 Cup in 2008, then (2010) – to Faysal Bank T20 Cup. The tournament was called Haier T20 Cup from 2014 to 2016, and then the name changed to the current one.
| Year of the foundation of the tournament | 2004 |
| Number of tournaments held | 18 |
| Most awarded | the Sialkot Stallions team (6 titles) |
| Match format | Twenty20 cricket |
Here’s what every interested fan should know about the tournament:
- The most awarded team in the tournament’s history is the Sialkot Stallions, based in the city of Sialkot (Punjab). She became the winner in the seasons 2005/06, 2006/07, 2008/09, 2009, 2009/10, 2011/12.
- In second place in terms of wins – the Lahore Lions. This team has 3 titles won in the seasons 2010/11, 2012/13, 2013/14.
- The Peshawar Panthers are the third most wins, with 2 titles from 2014/15, 2015/16.
- In second place most often during the championship was the team
Karachi Dolphins, 5 games in total in the final. It happened in the seasons 2004/05, 2006/07, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2011. They played four times in the final of the Faisalabad Wolves (seasons 2005/06, 2009 / 10,2012/13, 2013/14).
- During the National T20 Cup Pakistan was not held only once in the 2007/08 season. The 2019 Covid-19 pandemic did not interfere with the matches, but the teams played without spectators.
- The record holder of the tournament is the batsman and captain of the Central Punjab Babar Azam team. He became the first player to score 1,000 runs in the tournament. It only took him 27 innings to do this.
- At the time of the first tournament, 14 teams participated in it, later as a result of the reorganization of the Pakistani cricket system, only 6 participants remained.
- The National T20 Cup Pakistan has become a sensation in Asia: until 2004, official regional Twenty20 cricket tournaments existed only in Australia and England.
- Asad Shafiq (Sindh) holds the record for the number of runs in the tournament, with 214 runs in 4 matches.
- Imran Khan (the Dera Murad Jamali Ibexes) is in the lead with 12 wickets in 6 games.
- Shakeel Ansar of the Sialkot Stallions team leads the Most Catches ranking. He has 7 catches in 5 matches.
Even though the official regional tournament for the Twenty20 cricket has existed since 2005, the Pakistani national team’s first international match in this format was played only on 28 August 2006. The opponent was England.
National T20 Cup Pakistan Now
Cricket in Pakistan is incredibly popular. Every district and city has its own team. Therefore the structure of regional competitions has been confusing for a long time. The Pakistan Cricket Board decided to reorganize the entire system of regional cricket championships in 2019. Changes also affected the National T20 Cup Pakistan. The purpose of the reorganization was to provide effective training for athletes for the national team. After the reform, 6 teams take part in the championship, representing 6 regions of the country:
- Northern
- Balochistan
- Sindh
- Southern Punjab
- Central Punjab
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
A similar system has been established for other Pakistani regional championships (Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and Pakistan Cup). This system has its pros and cons. In particular, it is criticized because it makes it harder for young and novice players to get into international cricket, giving more chances to experienced athletes.
During the tournament, teams play 33 matches, each of the 6 teams playing 10 games in the league stage according to a double round-robin system. Thus, each team plays at least twice with each of the opponents.
Immediately after the reorganization of the tournament in the 2019/20 season, the Northern team became the champion. The Balochistan team took the second place. In the next draw of the tournament, the team Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took the first place. They defeated the Southern Punjab in the final.
At the moment, the Pakistan national team players who are selected based on the results of participation in the National T20 Cup Pakistan occupies the 5th out of 10 positions in the Test Cricket ICC ranking
