KARACHI: In the ongoing President's Trophy Grade-I being held in Karachi, there has been a reduction in the boundary sizes
Compared to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, where regional teams compete, the boundaries for departmental cricket tournaments have been shortened.
The maximum length for boundaries is now set at 72 yards. In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the limit was set at 75 yards. Even in the initial round of the President Trophy, boundaries were capped at 72 yards.
Sources told Geo News that the groundsmen have received instructions to maintain boundaries within a range of a maximum of 72 yards and a minimum of 65 yards.
Earlier this week, PCB also made some changes for the President’s Trophy Grade-I on a trial basis to make the tournament more competitive and result-oriented. Restricting first innings of teams to 80 overs is aimed at improving scoring rates in domestic cricket. These changes included
9.1 Rolling
After the toss, the captain of the batting side may request the umpires that the pitch be rolled for not more than 7 minutes. This request shall be entertained only if the request has been made within 5 minutes after the Toss.
12.7 Hours of Play; Minimum Overs Requirement
All matches in the subject tournament will be restricted to 80 overs in the first innings. The second innings will be open.
16.9 Points
If a captain decides to either declare or forfeit his team’s first innings before the completion of 80 overs, the bowling side will get bowling bonus points.
It must be noted that WAPDA and SBP won first-round games last week while the fixture between Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and Ghani Glass ended in a draw.
Remember, seven departmental teams will engage in round-robin matches, amounting to a total of 22 games. These matches will be distributed across seven rounds of league-stage encounters, culminating in a five-day final between the top two teams from 27th to 31st January 2024.
The seven teams participating in the upcoming tournament are as follows: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Pakistan Television (PTV), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Higher Education Commission (HEC), and Ghani Glass.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.
