Quaid e Azam Trophy Preview: An Introduction to Department Cricket
The Trophy – that’s all its known as within Pakistan cricket circles. It’s the backbone of Pakistan domestic cricket, and it’s been so for decades. At different times other tournaments have taken precedence (President’s Trophy at the start of this decade for instance, or PSL recently) but the health of the game in Pakistan has been, and will always be, built around the success and products of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
A disclaimer before we begin: I am not going to elaborate on the scheduling and other similar farces that have become the norm for every Trophy season – because it feels like banging your head against the wall, and I’ve now reached the stage where my forehead is crimson, and the wall has not been damaged an iota. Although if you too want to have that woozy feeling in your head and despair about the state of the foremost sports competition in Pakistan you can read the articles linked at the bottom of this piece.
In following domestic cricket, I have repeatedly heard that there is no context to the domestic game as it is filled with departments lording over regions, and the only way to bring attention or a fanbase to local cricket is by promoting regional cricket. Considering that there won’t be any changes to the system at least this season, let me help you out. Without further ado, here’s the context:
SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED (SNGPL)
Team Misbah 2.0 – now with youngsters
Not since Karachi in the 1960s has a domestic team dominated Pakistan cricket quite like SNGPL this decade. In five of the past six seasons they have won the premiere First Class tournament (2 President’s Trophies and 3 Quaid-e-Azam Trophies), and they go into this season as the favourites too.
Their success started off when the Misbah core (Misbah, Hafeez, Taufeeq, Adnan Akmal and pretty much every quality Faisalabad based player barring Saeed Ajmal) combined with the emergence of the two best longform players Pakistan have produced this decade (Azhar Ali and Yasir Shah) and led them to their throne. Keeping their throne has been a different matter though. Over the past few years SNGPL have gone from the domestic version of #TeamMisbah – both in composition and style of play – to what is essentially the Pakistani equivalent of Bayern Munich: they have the strongest team, yet any time someone good pops up they still sign him up. Before last season they added Asad Shafiq, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Abbas to their ranks. This year their major signings have been the two outstanding young pacers in Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Musa Khan from the Pakistan under-19 team, and there’s the return of Asif Ali to look forward to as well. In summary, they remain the strongest.
There are two things that can possibly derail them though: firstly, after a decade of captaincy Misbah has moved on to a player-mentor role and handed the captaincy over to Asad Shafiq. Those are mighty big shoes for Asad to fill, yet one still thinks his cricket acumen and the quality of the squad will be enough to stop any decline. The second, perhaps more important, factor is that Pakistan will play the Asia Cup and five Tests (vs Australia and New Zealand) in the UAE, and with a lot of national squads filled with SNGPL players there may be a possibility that a second string SNGPL team fails. But again, this is a team which has 16 (SIXTEEN!) players in the squad that have played international cricket for Pakistan. So, it’s hard to bet against them finishing top again.
WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (WAPDA)
Imagine the Summer of 2010 never happened
The last two editions of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ended with:
2016/17 – WAPDA defeat HBL in the final
2017/18 – SNGPL defeat WAPDA in the final
If there’s any team that has shown the resourcefulness to challenge SNGPL it’s been WAPDA – the only team to knock out SGNPL in the last six years. Much like SNGPL before the recent induction of youth this WAPDA team is built around old steady heads that succeed as much on know-how and their experience of dominating domestic cricket as anything else. While SNGPL’s base had been Misbah and Hafeez’s Faisalabadi core, WAPDA is a team built around Lahore (particularly Model Town) based players. Yet there is a fear that their window has passed, and this will be a year too far for them. A bowling unit of Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Asif (or Ehsan Adil), Wahab Riaz and Zulfiqar Babar feels like something that could have been world class in 2013, but we aren’t in 2013 anymore. Add that to a batting lineup that is built around Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt and the returning Sohaib Maqsood and it feels like what the Pakistan team would have been this decade if the summer of 2010 had never happened.
But even in the autumn of their careers these are players who are all capable of turning any game individually. Add all those guys to Mohammad Saad (WAPDA’s top scorer last season, finishing 3rd overall) and Waqas Maqsood (WAPDA’s second highest wicket taker last year; their highest, obviously, being Mohammad Asif) and that’s a spine that can take on anyone in the domestic game. Unlike SNGPL they are unlikely to lose any players to the national team so you have to consider WAPDA as one of the two favourites for the Trophy.
HABIB BANK LIMITED (HBL)
More Pakistani than the national team
Now you might be wondering if Pakistani domestic cricket is filled with only 30+ year olds. If you are new to it, this is how it works: a regional cricket association develops a player until he is good enough to be offered a contract by a department; if he succeeds with the department he gets to earn approximately three times (or more) than he would playing for his region, if he doesn’t succeed then he returns back to his region. Thus, it’s up to each individual departmental team to see the sort of players they want to target. SNGPL used to be Faisalabadis and old timers but they have turned the tide recently to basically signing up anyone who plays Test cricket for Pakistan. WAPDA is very much about guys who have been playing in Lahore since the mid-2000s. Until it closed down UBL was the team that was trying to attract all the young players. With them out of the way there’s a chance for HBL to take their spot.
HBL have recently had quality bowling attacks. The experience of Umar Gul, Abdur Rehman and Junaid Khan aided by the likes of Usman Shinwari, Amad Butt and Faheem Ashraf has meant that they have been able to compete with the best. Even with Shinwari gone their bowling is expected to remain a strength. The problem for them has been their batting – thus you could say that they are a more Pakistani team than any other. While they do have quality openers, they haven’t had enough runs in the middle order. Both Fakhar Zaman and Imam ul Haq are expected to spend most of the season with the national team so the onus will be on their highest scorer from last season – a certain Imran Farhat – to carry their batting again. But there are question marks about the supporting acts. Farhat was one of only two HBL players to finish in the top 40 runs scorers last season (the other being Amad Butt), so it’s not like this is a new problem.
HBL have found a possible solution though. Netflix has a documentary series titled “Last Chance U” – it’s about a group of gridiron players who have failed to reach their potential or haven’t done justice to their talents, and their attempts to have one final crack at the big time. That seems to be an inspiration for HBL. Along with signing Agha Salman they have also added Umar Akmal (playing for his 3rd different department in 4 seasons) and retained Ahmed Shehzad (although they have stripped him of the captaincy) for this season. If both Umar and Ahmed come off HBL’s batting problems can be a thing of the past. Yet at the same time the caveat “if both Umar and Ahmed come off” hasn’t exactly been a successful strategy. So HBL are either going to be glorious or disastrous this season – in either case it’ll be fun while it lasts.
NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN (NBP)
UBL in disguise
From 1975 to 1987 NBP won five Quaid-e-Azam Trophies. Led by the spin of Iqbal Qasim (who took 552 First Class wickets for NBP) they were one of the best teams in that era. But those days are long gone – Pakistani domestic cricket is no longer defined by spinners, and NBP haven’t won a title since 1987. But the phoenix has risen from the ashes.
While HBL might be aiming to take the spot that UBL vacated, NBP is far more likely to be the third power in the domestic game. They pounced on UBL’s closure and picked up half a dozen of their better players. Shan Masood, Hammad Azam, Mohammad Asghar, Rumman Raees and Mir Hamza have all made the jump from UBL to NBP, and they have also signed Umaid Asif after a career year.
Thus, it’s difficult to analyze NBP – because this is essentially a brand-new team. This might be a year in transition for NBP but if everything clicks and they truly take UBL’s spot then they might be dark horses for the title.
KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES (KRL)
The only thing that matters is seam bowling
In 2016/17 only 25% of first innings in Rawalpindi went beyond 250. That year was no anomaly. Cricket in Rawalpindi and Islamabad is seen as most beneficial to seam bowling in the country. As the season goes on the northern Punjabi winter turns the twin cities into something akin to County Cricket in early May.
That explains KRL’s identity. The play most of their cricket in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and all they have been known for is their pace bowling. Shoaib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Irfan and Rahat Ali all spent their primes there. Right now, the mantle for KRL’s spearhead belongs to Sadaf Hussain. Sadaf has taken 185 wickets in 41 First Class games for KRL, averaging just 18. Sadaf isn’t alone though. Each of him, Yasir Ali, Ali Shafiq and Ahmed Bashir took 25+ wickets at an average under 18 last season. All four of them can best be described as ideal bowlers for English conditions. The addition of Sameen Gul will only make their medium-pace bowling unit stronger, even if it won’t exactly diversify it.
But their biggest strength is also their weakness. Playing in conditions such as they do means that they can never really develop a batsman. They played 10 matches in the Trophy last season – the highest individual score by any of their batsmen in those matches was 83. A whole season without anyone scoring a century. There’s only so much success you can have with that formula. That explains why they haven’t finished in the top four since 2012, and why they are unlikely to change that this season too. Expect more of the same – but at least with matches finishing inside two days will mean that KRL will be one of the rare teams who are able to take a breather in their hectic schedule.
SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY (SSGC)
What if we signed everyone
In the 2014/15 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Silver League (the second tier of the competition at the time) SSGC failed to gain promotion. A year later the format for the QeA Trophy was changed and SSGC were in the big time. But while their promotion hadn’t exactly been earned everything they have done since then points to a team – and a department – on the rise. In the two years after that “promotion” they brought in several top tier players, and with them changed the ambition of the side. The finished last season in 5th place; and failed to qualify for the semi-finals only based on bonus points. This year they are likely to better that.
On paper they might have the best squad in the tournament this year. They could put out an XI that reads: Sami Aslam, Umar Amin, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Zakir, Saif Bangash, Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Kashif Bhatti and Usman Shinwari. Even with many of these players likely to be busy with the national team they still have the likes of Usama Mir, Amir Yamin, Zia-ul-Haq, Awais Zia, Zain Abbas and Muhammad Irfan Jr. to deputize for them. If we are to do the football comp again: if SNGPL are Bayern and WAPDA are Milan in the late 2000s then SSGC are definitely Manchester City – the team attracting some of the best talent around the country, and one quite obviously not constrained by financial resources to get to their prize. Thus, if everything goes to plan we might end up with them emulating their elder cousins from up north, and the QeA Trophy final might be: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited vs Sui Southern Gas Company.
Move aside PSG and City, there’s a new Gas Derby in town.
PAKISTAN TELEVISION (PTV)
Organic Growth, now with extra vitamins
Much like SSGC PTV too have only come up to the big time thanks to the restructured QeA Trophy, but unlike SSGC their ambition (and finances) have been much lower. They have tried to bring in the best young players that weren’t getting enough chances elsewhere, and given them a platform to shine. For fans of recent Pakistan under-19 teams several names would be familiar, but if you follow just the national team only one name will jump out to you.
PTV have a strong young core right now with Saud Shakeel and Hasan Mohsin – who led the team to the semi finals of the Department One Day Cup earlier this year. Add those two to Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Irfan (leg spinner) as new signings and it’s clear that their strategy is to buy young and cheap players and maximize their output. It’s moneyball in a tournament where there’s no need for moneyball. The problem for them is that there are no transfers (and the fees associated with it) in the domestic system that could take them out of this cycle.
So they’ve found another way: the one name that I mentioned earlier that will jump out to you is the one belonging to the only player in the PTV squad that has played for Pakistan. Ladies and gentlemen, Abdul Razzaq is back!
Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL)
Burn it down and build it up
In the first half of this decade some of the best players in Pakistan moved to ZTBL. Along with them the best young players were hoovered up by them as well. While they couldn’t reach the top in the men’s game, their women’s team became the best in the country. Of course, it was a mere coincidence that the PCB Chairman at the time, Zaka Ashraf, also happened to be the President of ZTBL.
Those days are long gone now. Babar Azam and Hussain Talat who were once supposed to be the future of ZTBL are now the core of Pakistan’s T20 middle order, but neither is with ZTBL anymore. In the aftermath of Zaka Ashraf’s tenure ZTBL slowly withered away until they were a Grade II team. To expedite this process they brought in Abdul Qadir as the coach, who drove every established player out of the department till all he had left were youngsters – just as he had wanted. And with those youngsters he was able to gain promotion back to the Trophy for this season.
But this is no Klopp-esque revolution, I won’t elaborate on this apart from saying that if Qadir is reminiscent of a football coach then it’s most probably Diego Maradona. Make of that what you will.
There are no top tier players for fans to look out for, but that doesn’t mean that ZTBL won’t be entertaining, especially off the pitch. Qadir has already forced Saad Nasim out (the captain of the team that gained promotion) among others. Saad returned his salary from ZTBL to be able to get away and play for his regional team, but apparently that is something Qadir is trying to block. ZTBL are also operating with a revolutionary team management system where they have neither an analyst nor a physio.
So, if you are bored with the normalcy of the current Pakistan team and miss the shenanigans of the past decades you know exactly which team to follow this season.
Further readings:
How QeA Trophy can hamper Pakistan cricket https://hostolics.com/islu_b/16-teams-0-off-spinners-0-leg-spinners/
Changes for the 2017/18 QeA Trophy (still there for the 2018/19 season) http://www.espn.in/cricket/story/_/id/21335069/pakistan-domestic-cricket-gotten-better-kind-not-really
On domestic pitches and balls used for QeA Trophy https://www.dawn.com/news/1198135
The death of UBL and how it will affect Pakistan Cricket http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23667526/pakistan-cricket-sorely-miss-their-united-bank-limited-team
On why domestic cricket inspires pessimism http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/815311.html
AND FINALLY SOMETHING POSITIVE: The rise of cricket in FATA http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/19312911/hassan-cheema-cricket-pakistan-fata-region