Pakistan’s National Women’s U19 Tournament will get underway on Thursday, bringing together 75 young cricketers from 24 cities as part of efforts to identify and develop the country’s emerging women’s cricket talent.
Organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the five-team competition will run from August 20 to September 4 at the NBP Sports Complex and HPC Oval Ground in Karachi.
The tournament will feature a combination of formats. The first 10 matches will be played as 30-over contests, while the next 10 league fixtures and the final on September 4 will be played in the Twenty20 format.
Five teams — Conquerors, Challengers, Strikers, Stars and Invincibles — will compete in a double round-robin league. Each side will play eight matches, with the top two advancing to the final. The venue for the title match will be confirmed later.
Pakistan women’s U19 captain Fizza Fiaz will lead Challengers, while Samiya Afsar will captain Conquerors, Ravail Farhan will head Strikers, Komal Khan will lead Stars and Zoofishan Ayyaz will skipper Invincibles.
Players assembled in Karachi on August 16 and underwent three days of training ahead of the competition.
The squads include players identified during trials conducted nationwide by the women’s national selection committee, alongside members of the Pakistan women’s U19 team that recently contested a five-match T20 series against South Africa.
The tournament will provide the PCB with an opportunity to assess emerging players ahead of future international competitions, including the ACC Women’s U19 Asia Cup and ICC Women’s U19 World Cup.