The qualifying rounds of the premier national first class event, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for both Regions and Departments have been rescheduled, and instead of August 1, these shall now commence on September 17, 2015.

The 12-match Inter-Region event shall run from Sept. 17 to Oct. 2, while the 15-match Inter-Department segment shall be held from Sept. 17 to Oct. 14.

The cut-off date for submission of each squad to the PCB’s Domestic Cricket Operations Department would be August 15, 2015.

The change in the qualifiers schedule has been made to accommodate about 60 players currently engaged in League cricket in England. “If the schedule was not changed, either the players would have suffered considerable financial loss or the departments whom they represent would have borne the brunt of their absence”, said Shakil Ahmed Sheikh, Chairman of PCB’s Cricket Committee. “The change in schedule would allow the players to return and feature for their respective departmental teams”, he added.

In all 14 teams, Six Departmental and Eight Regional, will contest to qualify for the main round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2015-16.

The eight regional teams have been divided into two pools for the qualifying round. These include: Karachi, Faisalabad, Abbottabad, FATA in Pool ‘A’, and Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur and Sialkot in Pool ‘B’.

The six departmental teams will play on single league basis. These include: PIA, SBP, SSGC, ZTBL, KRL and KPT.

The top team from each pool in regional cricket will qualify for Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2015-16 whereas the top two teams on the points table from Inter-Department Qualifying Round will feature in the foremost first-class event of the country.

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