The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's premier first-class tournament, has undergone a structural overhaul once again and is now split into gold and silver divisions and will see 20 teams from 16 regions compete. It is the fourth change in the tournament's format in as many seasons, a trend that has remained consistent throughout its history. Cricinfo looks at its various adaptations since the turn of the decade.
2019-20 to 2022-23: Sixteen regions become six associations
Towards the end of the last decade, the PCB scrapped the 2014 constitution to make way for a six-team structure. This not only absorbed the 16 regions into six cricket associations - roughly based on the country's provincial boundaries - but also eliminated departments from the PCB-organised cricket.
The move attracted the ire of many former and active cricketers of the time. Then head coach and Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali, along with Mohammad Hafeez, met Imran Khan, then Prime Minister and PCB Patron, on whose orders the new structure had been implemented.
The PCB persisted with this structure until the 2022-23 season. The first XIs of the six associations played in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy while their second XIs competed in its non-first-class variant. The non-first-class tournament was rebranded as the Cricket Associations Championship from the 2021-22 season.
2023-24: Region-based teams, two tiers
With Imran out of office and Ramiz Raja's tenure as PCB chairman cut short, the PCB reverted to the 2014 constitution in December 2022. Though the departments were back in the cricketing fold, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy included just eight region-based teams. This was in contrast with the last season played under the 2014 constitution, when teams from both departments and regions contested the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
The PCB also launched the Hanif Mohammad Trophy in 2023-24 - a non-first-class tournament for the other ten region-based sides - to act as a qualification pathway for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The top team here earned promotion to the first-class tournament, while the bottom-placed team in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy got relegated to the Hanif Mohammad Trophy.
2024-25: All regions get first-class status
The promotion-relegation concept, however, did not come to pass as all 16 regions were handed first-class status for this season. With the Hanif Mohammad Trophy now scrapped, 18 teams - two each from Lahore and Karachi - were divided into three groups and the top team from each group played a triangular round-robin stage to determine the two finalists. This season also saw the reintroduction of Dukes balls in domestic first-class matches for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Sialkot won this edition after edging past Peshawar by one wicket in a thrilling match.
The PCB also announced a five-team elite competition across all formats under the banner of Champions Cup, but it rolled back the venture only after its one-day edition.
2025-26: Eight… errr… ten teams
In yet another major shake-up, the PCB reverted to the eight-team structure for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, but the abrupt change in the format led to pushback from the regions. The PCB had initially announced that the top two sides from the Hanif Mohammad Trophy would join six teams in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, but it had to make room for two more sides just weeks before the start of the tournament.
While Faisalabad and Fata had secured promotion by virtue of topping their respective groups, Karachi Blues and Multan were also handed a spot each for finishing with the most points among all other teams across the two groups. As it turned out, Karachi Blues won the tournament with a convincing win over Sialkot in the final.
2026-27: Twenty region-based teams
This year's Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will be the biggest in terms of teams in the last ten years, with as many as 20 teams participating. All 16 regions have been handed first-class status, and Sialkot and Peshawar regions each have been allowed to field an additional team. Lahore and Karachi already field two teams, by virtue of being the two most populous cities in the country and being the established cricketing centres since the birth of the country.
The tournament has been split into gold and silver divisions. The top eight teams will play in the gold division, and the rest, including the two new teams, will feature in silver. The Hanif Mohammad Trophy has, for now, been axed.