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The forthcoming National One-day Cricket Championship, organized by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), with a record 28 teams in the fray is most likely to get inadequate media coverage when the tournament begins from Friday.

The tournament, which runs from March 8 to April 7, features an incredible total of 96 matches in 10 playing days before the four semifinalists are decided.

The PCB's domestic cricket planners have come up with the whimsical idea of staging 12 matches in each of the seven preliminary rounds which are scheduled on every alternate day from March 8 with a rest day in between.

With printing deadlines and lack of space, some may not be able to give detailed scoreboards along with reports of all the 12 matches.

It would make a lot of sense if the rest days between the matches are utilized to cut down the number of matches per day from 12 to six. For example, Pool 'A' and Pool 'B' fixtures should be held simultaneously on the same day while the matches in the Pool 'C' and Pool 'D' can be played on next day.

This arrangement, if implemented, sounds more appealing because then six matches are guaranteed every day from March 8 to 20, when the preliminary rounds conclude. Otherwise, if the original schedule is retained, some of the matches mat get abbreviated coverage with brief scores.

© Dawn