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KARACHI, April 3: The National One-day Championship will commence at four different centres of the country from Sunday with Allied Bank bidding to make a hat trick of titles.

The championship was previously known as the Wills Cup and was renamed as President's Cup until Saturday evening before its name was changed to Tissot Cup after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) signed a three-year agreement with the sponsors at Lahore.

On Saturday the PCB signed with the sponsors with a cash award of Rs 0.5 million at stake. The winners will get Rs 125,000 and the details of the other prizes are being worked out.

Allied Bank would be firm favourites to complete a hat trick of titles as they are the least affected team amongst 23 contenders. The other departmental teams who have also been previous winners including PIA and Habib Bank will be without the services of Pakistan team members who would be touring Sharjah for the first two rounds (to be played between April 4 and 19).

However, there were chances that the star players might represent their departments in the semi-finals that will be played on April 22 and 23, followed up by the final on 25th.

Allied Bank have been placed in Pool C and barring the glorious uncertainties of the game, they are unlikely to be tested by the other teams in the pool i.e. Karachi Blues, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP). Allied Bank will be playing their first round matches at Faisalabad and Sheikhupura.

While Karachi Whites and Pakistan Customs are expected to qualify for the final round from Pool A and National Bank and Habib Bank are likely to forge ahead from Pool B, Pool D appears to be the most intriguing one.

Pool D comprise Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), PIA, Peshawar and WAPDA. This means that there are three departmental teams besides Rawalpindi who are two-time losing finalists. This combination makes the gathered a complex one and only fools would put their necks in trouble by predicting which two teams would move ahead.

Although the name of the event has been changed, the format remains the same. Top two teams from each pool qualify for the final round. The final round matches would be contested at four centres. At the National Stadium and UBL Sports Complex in Karachi, runners-up from Pool A, winners of Pool B, runners-up of Pool C and winners of Pool D will be fighting for two top positions while at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad at Sheikhupura Stadium, winners of Pool A, runners-up of Pool B, winners of Pool C and runners-up of Pool D will be vying for the remaining two slots to complete the semi-finals lineup.

The 23 teams include 12 associations, nine departments and Bangladesh. The teams have been initially divided into four pools which are:

POOL A: Karachi Whites, Bangladesh, PNSC, Pakistan Customs, Hyderabad and Quetta.

POOL B: Lahore, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, National Bank, Habib Bank and Multan

POOL C: Faisalabad, Karachi Blues, Allied Bank, Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, Sargodha

POOL D: Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Pakistan International Airlines, Khan Research Laboratories, Peshawar and WAPDA.

Sunday's fixtures:

Karachi Whites v Bangladesh at National Stadium; PNSC v Pakistan Customs at UBL Sports Complex; Hyderabad v Quetta at Niaz Stadium (all Pool A matches);

Lahore v Bahawalpur at LCCA Stadium;HBL v Multan at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot (all Pool B matches);

Faisalabad v Karachi Blues at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; ABL v ADBP at Sheikhupura Stadium (all Pool C matches);

Rawalpindi v Islamabad at KRL; KRL v PIA at Pindi stadium; Peshawar v WAPDA at Arbab Niaz Stadium (all Pool D matches).