Quaid-e-Azam trophy for eighteen teams set to begin on October 26

After facing a delay, the PCB has finally unveiled the official schedule for the highly anticipated 2024-25 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The prestigious first-class competition is set to kick off on October 26th and will culminate with the final match on December 19th. Cricket enthusiasts can mark their calendars and look forward to witnessing some nail-biting matches as Pakistan's top domestic teams battle it out for glory.

In a major overhaul, the days of parsimony when it came to the number of teams have flown out of the window. This year's QeA will see 18 teams spread out into 16 regions take part; Lahore and Karachi have two teams each. Last year, just eight teams played the tournament, with the four years prior seeing just six participants. Karachi Whites are the defending champions.

"Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is the pinnacle of domestic cricket in Pakistan as it is not just a tournament but also an event that showcases the immense talent across the country and prepares them for the challenges of international cricket," Abdullah Niazi, the director of domestic operations, said in a statement. "As always, we will continue to provide the best possible platform for players to excel and show their capabilities on the biggest stage in domestic cricket as they will be rubbing their shoulders with the best players of the country.

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"Earlier we demonstrated a successful Champions One-Day Cup, and are fully committed to strengthening our domestic structure. The successful execution of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy remains at the heart of this commitment."

Just days ago, though, the fate of this year's Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was uncertain. ESPNcricinfo understands the tournament was delayed, with the domestic cricket department awaiting the chairman's sign-off for the tournament. The QeA was tentatively scheduled to start on October 20.

The start date of October 26 is considerably later than usual. Just two of the last 15 years have seen the tournament begin after this date. The PCB opted to host the Champions One-Day Cup in September, Pakistan's only meaningfully empty window until May, pushing the first-class competition deeper into the season.

This means the Quaid-e-Azam trophy starts while Pakistan's Test season - it's busiest this century - will already be well into the fifth of seven home games. The final begins on December 19, a week out from the first Test in South Africa on December 26. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan vice-captain Saud Shakeel suggested the first-class competition could be used to prepare for the tour of South Africa by attempting to replicate those conditions.

"If you want to prepare for SENA [series in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia], you can do it during practice and first class cricket," Shakeel said. "If there's first-class cricket before South Africa, we could prepare those kinds of pitches there. But we should prepare pitches and conditions series-by-series, and according to the opposition."