PCB Reveals Tentative Dates and Venue for Four-Team ODI Tournament

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is likely to hold a four-team one-day tournament in Multan from August 11 to 18 as part of its preparations for the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

The competition is expected to feature Pakistan’s leading white-ball cricketers and will be used to assess the country’s ODI talent in a competitive environment.

Participation will reportedly be mandatory for national white-ball players, with the selectors and coaching staff looking to identify a core group for Pakistan’s World Cup plans.

The proposed dates have also been designed to accommodate players expected to participate in the 2026 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which will run from August 7 to September 20 and feature 39 matches.

If the domestic tournament concludes on August 18 as planned, the PCB is expected to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to eligible players for the remaining part of the CPL season.

Maaz Sadaqat, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Sufiyan Muqeem, Saad Masood, Usman Khan, and Salman Irshad are among the Pakistan players expected to feature in the Caribbean tournament.

PCB Director of High Performance Aaqib Javed recently discussed the proposed four-team competition during an appearance on the board’s “Straight Drive” podcast alongside Salman Butt.

“We have around 18 months until the 2027 World Cup, so this is the right time to begin our preparations,” Javed said.

He explained that the tournament had been jointly planned by the national selectors and coaching staff, who intend to form four evenly balanced teams comprising Pakistan’s leading white-ball players.

“The selectors and coaches sat together and designed this four-team tournament. Four balanced sides will be selected, and all white-ball players will take part,” he said.

According to Javed, team selections will be based on the specific roles assigned to individual players rather than simply choosing the strongest available lineup.

“The playing XIs will be selected according to each player’s role. This tournament will help us determine which group of players should form the core of our plans going forward,” he added.