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The national one-day tournament will be played between March 8 and April 7 with 28 teams to compete for top honours.

The teams will be equally divided into four groups with top two teams from each group qualifying for the final rounds. The semifinals and the final will be played under lights.

Only three matches have been slated as day/night fixtures despite the fact that three stadia are equipped with floodlight facilities. Furthermore, the stadia have hosted private day/night matches as well as musical concerts. But when it has come to hosting domestic one-day matches, the officials claim they don't have the funds.

It is an irony that since floodlights were installed at Karachi and Rawalpindi in 2000, only two one-day matches involving Pakistan and England have been played.

The lights at Gaddafi Stadium have also not been properly utilized.

Officials said smaller cities, preferably the participating association, will host preliminary round matches. "To curtail expenses of the associations, preliminary round matches have been awarded to competing association."

The officials argued that the change has been made after Pakistan Railways lifted their 50 percent waiver for sportsmen. That's besides the point that the associations are so cash strapped that they can not afford their players travelling. It may also be pointed out here that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) gives a Rs 6,000 daily allowance to each team during its organized tournaments.

Officials said the format and draws of the competition have been sent to the PCB chairman for approval.

It will be after a long time that 18 associations and 10 departmental teams will compete in the one-day tournament.

Invited teams are:

Associations: Lahore Blues, Lahore Whites, Karachi Blues, Karachi Whites, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Bahawalpur, Gujran-wala, Sialkot, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Rest of Sindh, Rest of Punjab, Rest of NWFP, Rest of Balochistan.

Departments: PIA, HBL, NBP, ABL, KRL, Customs, Wapda, Sui Gas and Pak PWD.

© Dawn