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Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi Set for Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Opening-Round Clash

Test captain Babar Azam's Lahore Whites face Shaheen Shah Afridi-led Fata as the 69th Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins across Islamabad, Abbottabad and Rawalpindi with 20 regional sides.

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Batsman in white first-class cricket clothing playing a shot at sunset in a Pakistani stadium during the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

Highlights

  • The 69th Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins across Islamabad, Abbottabad and Rawalpindi, with 20 regional sides in Gold and Silver competitions.
  • Test captain Babar Azam (Lahore Whites) faces ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (Fata) in the headline opening-round clash at the Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad.
  • The tournament runs from 3 November to 12 December, with the five-day final scheduled for 15–19 December.

Pakistan’s premier first-class competition returns with its biggest names on show. Test captain Babar Azam and One-day International skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi will headline the opening round of the 69th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which gets under way across Islamabad, Abbottabad and Rawalpindi (Dawn, 3 November 2026).

Babar will turn out for Lahore Whites, who face Shaheen-led Fata at the Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad, in what promises to be one of the early highlights of the competition (Dawn, 3 November 2026). For domestic cricket followers, a head-to-head between the national side’s batting leader and its pace spearhead is exactly the kind of contest that lifts a first-class tournament beyond the scorecards.

Twenty sides, two competitions

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced the schedule and team rosters for the Gold and Silver competitions, which will run simultaneously and feature 20 regional sides (Dawn, 3 November 2026). The Silver group matches will take place from 3–30 November, with the final between the two group winners scheduled for 3–7 December (Dawn, 3 November 2026).

Fast bowler in white first-class kit in his delivery stride on a grass pitch at golden hour
First-class cricket returns across three cities as 20 regional sides chase the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

The structure matters for Pakistan’s wider red-ball health. With the national team cycling through a demanding international calendar, the Trophy remains the proving ground where the next Test players are identified — a pathway that makes performances here worth watching alongside Pakistan’s rise to fourth place in the latest ICC ODI rankings, even though that climb came in the one-day format.

What is at stake

The competition will run from 3 November to 12 December, with the five-day final scheduled for 15–19 December, and the winners will be crowned champions of the 69th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (Dawn, 3 November 2026). A five-day final underlines the tournament’s role as a genuine Test-match rehearsal rather than a short-format audition.

Silver cricket championship trophy with a red leather ball and white batting gloves in a dressing room
The winners will be crowned champions of the 69th edition of Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament.

For Babar and Shaheen, the opening round is also a rare chance to lead from the front in domestic colours before international duty calls again. How the senior stars perform — and which younger regional players push them hardest — will shape selection debates for months. It is the same week that world cricket said goodbye to one of its great entertainers, as Glenn Maxwell retired from international cricket after a 14-year career.

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