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Karachi, Oct 10: The Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Grade-I Championship marks the start of the 2000-2001 first-class season in the country tomorrow (Wednesday) with 12 association teams in fray for top honours.

A total of 66 four-day matches will be played in 11 rounds of six matches, which will culminate with last round of league fixtures from Dec 10 to 13.

The last three round of matches - as well as the five-day final at Lahore's Qadhafi Stadium from Dec 16 - will be played in the holy month of Ramazan.

Last season, the premier competition was contested among 23 teams as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)'s previous set up opted to pit departmental and association outfits in two league groups. The 42nd edition of the championship was won by PIA, who trounced Habib Bank by eight wickets in under two days in the final played at Faisalabad.

This time the association sides will be considerably strengthened by the presence of players belonging to various departments as the cricket board aims to promote the game at regional level.

Sheikhupura will be making their debut at this level with a home tie against Sargodha.

Peshawar won the championship in 1999-2000, when the national tournament was restricted to association teams.

However, the highlights of the opening round will be the two derby clashes involving the two teams of Karachi and two of Lahore.

Karachi Whites and Karachi Blues, who won the metropolitan city's last of 16 Quaid Trophy titles in 1997-98, face each other at the KCCA Stadium while Lahore Whites will play against Lahore Blues at the LCCA ground.

The KCCA selectors have named the following squads for the match:

Karachi Whites: Atiq-uz-Zaman (captain), Shadab Kabir, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Masroor, Hasan Raza, Saeed bin Nasir, Kashif Ibrahim, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Sami, Sabihuddin, Adnan Malik, Haaris Ayaz, Hanif-ur-Rehman, Imranullah, Mohammad Ghazan and Zeeshan Pervez.

Karachi Blues: Saeed Azad (captain), Iqbal Imam, Rashid Latif, Suleman Huda, Zafar Jadoon, Naumanullah, Asim Kamal, Afsar Nawaz, Lal Faraz, Fahim Ahmed Senior, Zulfiqar Haider, Rizwan Saeed, Maisam Hasnain, Saad Wasim, Imran Khan, Tanvir Ahmed and Iqbal Shaikh.

Two teams finishing at the bottom at the end of the tournament will be relegated to Grade II for season 2001-2002.

First round fixtures:

Karachi Whites v Karachi Blues at KCCA Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Sadiq Mohammad and M. Akbar Khan. Match referee: Anwar Khan).

Lahore Whites v Lahore Blues at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: Nadeem Ghauri and Ehtesham-ul-Haq. Match referee: Sultan Rana).

Islamabad v Bahawalpur at Shalimar Ground, Islamabad (Umpires: Feroz Butt and Waqar A. Mughal. Match referee: Rizwan Khateeb).

Sheikhupura v Sargodha at Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura (Umpires: Mian Aslam and Asad Rauf. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed).

Peshawar v Rawalpindi at Shahi Bagh Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Mohammad Nazir Junior and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Farrukh Zaman).

Faisalabad v Gujranwala at Bohranwali Ground, Faisalabad (Umpires: Salim Badar and Zamir Haider. Match referee: Azhar Khan).

© Dawn