PCB introduces schedule, squads for National T20 Cup

The National T20 Cup 2026 is set to begin on Saturday, March 7, with the semi-finals scheduled for March 17 and the grand final on March 18, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Wednesday.

A total of 23 matches will be played during the tournament, all hosted at the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium. The venue previously hosted nine matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in October and November 2025.

Ten regional teams will compete in the tournament: Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Karachi Whites, Karachi Blues, Lahore Blues, Lahore Whites, Multan, and Sialkot.

Group A features Lahore Whites, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Karachi Whites, and Bahawalpur. Group B includes defending champions Lahore Blues, along with Sialkot, Multan, Abbottabad, and Karachi Blues. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.

During the group stage, two matches will be played daily from March 7 to 16. The first match will begin at 4:15 pm PKT, followed by the second match at 9:15 pm PKT. The final is scheduled to start at 8:00 pm PKT, with the toss taking place at 7:30 pm.

The tournament is expected to deliver high-intensity cricket as regional sides compete for the prestigious domestic T20 title.

Squads:

Abbottabad

Khalid Usman (captain), Afaq Ahmed, Ahmed Khan, Arshad Iqbal, Atizaz Habib Khan, Fayyaz Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Khushdil Shah (Guest), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Guest), Mohammad Mohsin Khan, Razaullah, Sajjad Ali (wk), Shadab Khan (Guest), Shahab Khan and Shahzaib Khan (U21)

Reserves: Hamid Ali, Adil Naz, Fakhar Zaman, Afaq Khan, Riazullah (U21)

Bahawalpur

Muhammad Imran (captain), Ali Shabbir (U21), Daniyal Hussain Rajput (Guest), Mohammad Faizan Zafar, Haider Ali (Guest), Hasnain Majid (U21), Khaqan Basheer, Mohammad Akram (wk), Mohammad Azab, Mohammad Basit, Mohammad Junaid, Muhammad Sarwar Afridi (Guest), Mohammad Sudais, Mohammad Umair and Saad Khan (Guest)

Reserves: Ali Hamza Waseem, Aoun Shahzad, Mohammad Faizan (U21), Amjad Ali, Gulfam Aziz

Faisalabad

Muhammad Irfan Khan (captain), Ahmad Safi Abdullah, Afaq Afridi (Guest), Asif Ali, Asim Ali Nasir (wk), Atiq-ur-Rehman, Daniyal Ali Khan (U21), Faham-ul-Haq (U21), Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Zeeshan (U21), Momin Qamar (U21), Mubasir Khan (Guest), Muhammad Awais Zafar and Zaman Khan (Guest)

Reserves: Mudassir Zunair, Ali Shan, Ali Asfand, Taimur Sultan, Shehzad Gul

Karachi Whites

Saud Shakeel (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Arif Yaqoob, Danish Aziz, Haroon Arshad (U21), Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Asghar, Muhammad Hamza Sohail, Muhammad Umar, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rizwanullah, Saifullah Bangash (wk), Saim Ayub, Saqib Khan and Shan Masood

Reserves: Asadullah Hamza, Muhammad Tariq Khan, Sohail Khan (wk), Mir Hamza, Huzaifa Ahsan

Karachi Blues

Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (captain, wk), Ahsan Ali, Asad Akhtar, Jahandad Khan (Guest), Jahanzaib Sultan, Khalil Ahmed (Guest), Mehran Mumtaz (Guest), Mohammad Taha, Muhammad Usman Raheem, Rameez Aziz, Rehman Ghani, Saad Baig (wk), Shahnawaz Dahani (Guest), Syed Shah Raza Naqvi and Wahaj Riaz

Reserves: Aarish Ali Khan, Raza Chandio, Mohammad Makki, Niqab Shafiq, Huzaifa Munir