# 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

The 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 14 September to 31 December 2019. Habib Bank Limited were the defending champions. However, after the new domestic structure was announced by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), six newly formed regional teams played in the tournament.
During the opening round of fixtures, a concussion substitute was used for the first time in a domestic cricket match in Pakistan. In the match between Southern Punjab and Central Punjab, Mohammad Saad replaced Usman Salahuddin in Central Punjab's team on the second day of the match. On 31 October 2019, Ahmed Shehzad was fined 50% of his match fee following a drawn match between his side, Central Punjab, and Sindh after his team was found guilty of ball-tampering.
The final was originally scheduled to be played from 9 to 13 December. However, in November 2019, the dates were moved to 27 to 31 December 2019, after Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) agreed to tour Pakistan in December to play two Test matches. Ahead of the penultimate round of matches, four teams were in contention to reach the final. Following the conclusion of the tenth and final round of group stage matches, Central Punjab and Northern had qualified for the final of the tournament. Central Punjab won the tournament, beating Northern by an innings and 16 runs in the final. Umar Akmal and Bilal Asif were named as the men of the match, for the batting and bowling respectively, and Zafar Gohar was named the player of the tournament.

## Background

The PCB were working on revamping the domestic structure. However, Pakistan's Prime Minister, and former international cricketer, Imran Khan, had rejected the proposals, with Khan insisting that department sides no longer take part. The PCB also considered splitting the tournament into two parts, to have a window for the domestic T20 competition and the draft for the 2020 Pakistan Super League.
On 31 August 2019, the PCB confirmed the new structure of the tournament, in which six newly formed regional teams played a total of thirty-one matches, each team playing ten matches. The teams that competed were Balochistan, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern, Sindh and Southern Punjab. On 3 September 2019, the PCB confirmed all of the squads for the tournament.
The PCB also updated the playing conditions for the tournament, including removing the mandatory coin toss and the possibility of extending the final by an extra day, if needed. The visiting team's captain had the choice to bowl first if they wished. If not, then the coin toss took place as before. This practice had been used in England since the 2016 County Championship season. If the final ended in a draw, the winner would be declared on the basis of a first innings lead. However, if the first innings for both teams had not been completed, an extra day would have been used. In the event that both teams did not complete their first innings, they would both be declared the winners of the tournament.

## Teams and squads

Each team was drafted with three centrally contracted players, sixteen regular players and three white ball specialists.
| Balochistan | Central Punjab | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Northern | Sindh | Southern Punjab |
| Haris Sohail (c) Imran Farhat (vc) Imam-ul-Haq Yasir Shah Abubakar Khan Ali Shafiq Amad Butt Asif Zakir Azeem Ghumman Bismillah Khan Hussain Talat Imran Butt Khurram Shehzad Mohammad Asghar Shahbaz Khan Shahzaib Ahmed Taimur Khan Taj Wali Umar Gul Akif Javed Ibtisam Sheikh Mohammad Talha | Babar Azam (c) Ahmed Shehzad (vc) Azhar Ali Hasan Ali Ahmed Bashir Ali Shan Bilal Asif Ehsan Adil Fahim Ashraf Kamran Akmal Mohammad Saad Naseem Shah Rizwan Hussain Saad Nasim Salman Butt Umar Akmal Usman Salahuddin Waqas Maqsood Zafar Gohar Nasir Nawaz Nauman Anwar Usman Qadir | Mohammad Rizwan (c) Sahibzada Farhan (vc) Fakhar Zaman Usman Shinwari Adil Amin Ashfaq Ahmed Iftikhar Ahmed Imran Khan Sr Irfan Khan Israrullah Junaid Khan Kamran Ghulam Mohammad Ilyas Musaddiq Ahmed Nabi Gul Rehan Afridi Sameen Gul Umer Khan Zohaib Khan Imran Khan Jr Mohammad Arif Mohammad Mohsin | Imad Wasim (c) Umar Amin (vc) Shadab Khan Shaheen Afridi Afaq Raheem Ali Asad Ali Sarfraz Asif Ali Haider Ali Hammad Azam Haris Rauf Mohammad Nawaz Muhammad Musa Nauman Ali Rohail Nazir Sadaf Hussain Sohail Tanvir Umar Waheed Waqas Ahmed Mohammad Amir Sohail Akhtar Zaid Alam | Sarfraz Ahmed (c) Asad Shafiq (vc) Abid Ali Anwar Ali Fawad Alam Hasan Mohsin Kashif Bhatti Khurram Manzoor Mir Hamza Mohammad Hasan Mohammad Hasnain Omair Bin Yousuf Rameez Aziz Saad Ali Saud Shakeel Shehzar Mohammad Sohail Khan Tabish Khan Waleed Ahmed Abrar Ahmed Ahsan Jamil Shahnawaz Dahani | Shan Masood (c) Sami Aslam (vc) Mohammad Abbas Wahab Riaz Abdul Rehman Muzammil Adnan Akmal Aamer Yamin Bilawal Bhatti Imran Rafiq Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Hafeez Rahat Ali Saif Badar Sohaib Maqsood Umaid Asif Umar Siddiq Zahid Mehmood Zain Abbas Ali Khan Shoaib Malik Sadaif Mehdi |
In September 2019, Wahab Riaz took an indefinite break from red-ball cricket, therefore withdrawing himself from Southern Punjab's squad.

## Points table

| Team | Pld | W | L | T | D | Pts | NRR |
| Central Punjab | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 133 | +0.191 |
| Northern | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 130 | +0.376 |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 124 | –0.058 |
| Southern Punjab | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 112 | +0.092 |
| Sindh | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 90 | –0.158 |
| Balochistan | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 84 | –0.441 |

## Fixtures
### Round 1

* 14–17 September 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Aaley Haider and Khalid Mahmood
* Toss uncontested, Balochistan elected to field.
* Points: Sindh 9, Balochistan 7.
* 14–17 September 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Umpires: Shozab Raza and Tariq Rasheed
* Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Southern Punjab 11, Central Punjab 11.
* 14–17 September 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad Umpires: Farooq Ali Khan and Zameer Haider
* Toss uncontested, Northern elected to field.
* Haider Ali (Northern) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 13, Northern 8.

### Round 2

* 21–24 September 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Bugti Stadium, Quetta Umpires: Ahmed Shahab and Aslam Bareach
* Toss uncontested, Southern Punjab elected to field.
* Points: Balochistan 13, Southern Punjab 9.
* 21–24 September 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Aaley Haider and Khalid Mahmood
* Toss uncontested, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elected to field.
* Points: Sindh 11, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 10.
* 21–24 September 2019 Scorecard
* Central Punjab won by an innings and 100 runs Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Umpires: Shozab Raza and Ghaffar Kazmi
* Toss uncontested, Northern elected to field.
* Points: Central Punjab 24, Northern 3.

### Round 3

* 28 September–1 October 2019 Scorecard
* Central Punjab won by innings and 12 runs Bugti Stadium, Quetta Umpires: Ahmed Shahab and Aslam Bareach
* Balochistan won the toss and elected to field.
* Points: Central Punjab 24, Balochistan 3.
* 28 September–1 October 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Khan Research Laboratories Ground, Rawalpindi Umpires: Abdul Muqeet and Mohammad Asif
* Toss uncontested, Sindh elected to field.
* Haris Rauf (Northern) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Sindh 10, Northern 8.
* 28 September–1 October 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad Umpires: Tariq Rasheed and Nasir Hussain
* Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 7, Southern Punjab 6.

### Round 4

* 5–8 October 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Khan Research Laboratories Ground, Rawalpindi Umpires: Qaiser Waheed and Mohammad Asif
* Northern won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Northern 13, Balochistan 11.
* 5–8 October 2019 Scorecard
* Southern Punjab won by an innings and 129 runs United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Khalid Mahmood and Tahir Rasheed
* Sindh won the toss and elected to field.
* Points: Southern Punjab 24, Sindh 4.
* 5–8 October 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad Umpires: Saqib Khan and Ahmed Shahab
* Toss uncontested, Central Punjab elected to field.
* Points: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 12, Central Punjab 8.

### Round 5

* 28–31 October 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Bugti Stadium, Quetta Umpires: Ghaffar Kazmi and Shameem Ansari
* Toss uncontested, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elected to field.
* Akif Javed (Balochistan) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Balochistan 11, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 11.
* 28–31 October 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Umpires: Zameer Haider and Mohammad Asif
* Toss uncontested, Sindh elected to field.
* Points: Central Punjab 11, Sindh 10.
* 28–31 October 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot Umpires: Abdul Muqeet and Farooq Ali Khan
* Northern won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Northern 12, Southern Punjab 11.

### Round 6

* 4–7 November 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Bugti Stadium, Quetta Umpires: Ghaffar Kazmi and Aslam Bareach
* Toss uncontested, Balochistan elected to field.
* Points: Southern Punjab 13, Balochistan 8.
* 4–7 November 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad Umpires: Majid Hussain and Farooq Ali Khan
* Toss uncontested, Sindh elected to field.
* No play was possible on days 3 and 4 due to rain.
* Points: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 8, Sindh 8.
* 4–7 November 2019 Scorecard
* Central Punjab won by 204 runs Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Umpires: Nasir Hussain and Rashid Riaz
* Central won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Central Punjab 20, Northern 3.

### Round 7

* 11–14 November 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Umpires: Qaiser Waheed and Zameer Haider
* Central Punjab won the toss and elected to field.
* Points: Balochistan 13, Central Punjab 10.
* 11–14 November 2019 Scorecard
* Northern won by 145 runs National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: Shameem Ansari and Tahir Rasheed
* Northern won the toss and elected to bat.
* Salman Irshad (Northern) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Northern 24, Sindh 6.
* 11–14 November 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad Umpires: Saqib Khan and Asif Yaqoob
* Points: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 13, Southern Punjab 9.

### Round 8

* 18–21 November 2019 Scorecard
* Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won by an innings and 122 runs United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Saqib Khan and Farooq Ali Khan
* Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23, Balochistan 2.
* 18–21 November 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: Imran Javed and Shameem Ansari
* Central Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.
* Aamir Ali (Sindh) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Sindh 11, Central Punjab 9.
* 18–21 November 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn Khan Research Laboratories Ground, Rawalpindi Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Rashid Riaz
* Northern won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Northern 13, Southern Punjab 9.

### Round 9

* 25–28 November 2019 Scorecard
* Northern won by 8 wickets United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Imran Javed and Qaiser Waheed
* Toss uncontested, Northern elected to field.
* Points: Northern 22, Balochistan 6.
* 25–28 November 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: Faisal Afridi and Imtiaz Iqbal
* Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.
* Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Sindh 12, Southern Punjab 11.
* 25–28 November 2019 Scorecard
* Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won by 211 runs National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Abdul Muqeet and Shameem Ansari
* Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 22, Central Punjab 3.

### Round 10

* 2–5 December 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: Majid Hussain and Faisal Afridi
* Toss uncontested, Sindh elected to field.
* Points: Balochistan 10, Sindh 9.
* 2–5 December 2019 Scorecard
* Match drawn State Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Aaley Haider and Rashid Riaz
* Central Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.
* Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Central Punjab 13, Southern Punjab 10.
* 2–5 December 2019 Scorecard
* Northern won by 39 runs United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi Umpires: Shozab Raza and Imtiaz Iqbal
* Toss uncontested, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elected to field.
* Points: Northern 24, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 5.

## Final

* 27–31 December 2019 Scorecard
* Central Punjab won by an innings and 16 runs National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: Ahsan Raza and Asif Yaqoob Player of the match: Umar Akmal and Bilal Asif (Central Punjab)
* Northern won the toss and elected to bat.