Pakistan Cup
Pakistan Cup: participating teams
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cricket team
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Pakistan Cup: all about the ODI tournament
The history of cricket in Pakistan began simultaneously with the beginning of the history of this country as an independent state. It was 1947 when Pakistan became independent from India, which is considered the official year of birth not only of this state, but also the year of the beginning of cricket history. Since then, Pakistan has become a serious rival in the international arena, and the country’s best players compete with each other in several national tournaments, including the Pakistan Cup. We tell you about this tournament in more detail.
Foundation and status of the Pakistan Cup Tournament
At the moment, as in the XX century, cricket in Pakistan is one of the most popular and beloved sports. Tournaments are held not only within the country, but also in almost every city or village, officially or at the amateur level. The first and most significant cricket tournament at the entire state level was the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy; later other competitions appeared.
The Pakistan Cup is one of the new tournaments; its history began only in 2008. This tournament, along with the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class tournament) and the National T20 Cup, is one of the most significant at the moment.
They play at the Pakistan Cup in One Day Domestic cricket; it takes place annually and lasts, as a rule, one month.
At the time of its foundation, the tournament was called the Pentangular One Day Cup; the first match was held in 2008.
| The year of the tournament’s foundatio | 2008 |
| Number of tournaments held | 9 (3 as the Pentangular One Day Cup and 6 as the Pakistan Cup) |
| The most titled team | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cricket team (2015/16, 2019/20, 2020/21) |
| Match format | One day cricket |
Significant events in the history of the tournament
The modern name of the tournament was received only in 2015; the winner was the KPK Fighters team, the Punjab Badshahs team took second place.
At the moment, 6 tournaments have been held under the new name. Let’s turn to the statistics of the Pakistan Cup tournament:
- The most successful team. In the short history of this championship, the most successful team is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, representing the province of the same name. They have already won three times: in 2016, in 2020 and 2021. In addition, the KPK Fighters club, which previously represented this province, won in 2015. The Federal Areas team occupied second place in the number of titles, which won the titles in 2017 and 2018.
- The highest and lowest performance. The Pakistan Cup is one of the most productive tournaments by global standards. The highest score is 385 runs, achieved by the Sindh team in 2019 in a match against the Federal Areas team. There have been other successful games in the tournament’s history, where more than 350 runs were scored. Federal Areas in 2017 in a match against Balochistan earned 376 runs, Balochistan, in turn, in 2018 earned 373 runs in a match against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab in 2018 defeated Balochistan with 366 runs. During the tournament’s existence, only once has a match taken place where the team earned less than 100 runs: in 2018 when Sindh lost to Federal Areas.
- The most productive batsman. This honorary title belongs to the player of the Sindh Khurram Manzoor team, who brought more than 1,000 runs to his team during his participation in the tournament. The second place is taken by Iftikhar Ahmed, who earned more than 900 runs.
- The best striker. Asif Ali, who has earned more than 450 runs, is now in first place among strikers, and he also has two centuries on his account.
- The most productive bowler. Left-hander Zia-ul-Haq is the best at taking wickets of an opponent in the Pakistan Cup (24 wickets at 24.45). The second place is taken by Bilal Asif (23 wickets at 35.17).
- The fastest hundreds (centuries). A total of 44 centuries were scored during the tournament. Khurram Manzoor (Sindh) achieved this result the fastest in 2017 in a match against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He got a hundred points for 56 balls. The second and third places in this indicator are the results of Khushdil Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), who earned a hundred for 65 and 66 balls.
How is the Pakistan Cup going now
Since 2019, when the number of teams was reduced by the decision of the country’s cricket leadership, six regional teams are permanent participants of the tournament, one from each province:
- Central Punjab
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Southern Punjab
- Balochistan
- Northern
- Sindh
Pakistan Cup, as a rule, consists of 33 matches; during the tournament, the following individual titles are awarded: Player of the Tournament, Best Wicketkeeper, Best Bowler and Best Batsman, Player of the Final and Man of the Match (32 players become winners of this award, it is awarded during the matches of the group stage and semi-finals).
The tournament is still held every year.
Within the framework of the Pakistan Cup, players compete in the ODI format so that the best cricketers of the tournament get the opportunity to show themselves on the world stage. At the moment, the Pakistan team is ranked 6th in the ICC ODI ranking.
