KARACHI: While announcing the Super Eight and Bottom Six-team schedules of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Monday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) overlooked Karachi and Hyderabad as match venues despite their presence in the event.

According to the PCB announcement through a media release, the group games in the Super Eight stage would be played in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Mirpur, while the league ties of the Bottom Six Teams’ event would be held in Multan, Peshawar, Swabi and Mirpur.

This appears to be a strange phenomenon since both Karachi outfits — Blues and Whites — as well as Hyderabad have qualified for the top tier Super Eight competition and yet, they have been deprived of playing ‘home’ fixtures.

Moreover, the northern parts of the country, where the matches have been scheduled, have regular spells of rain in addition to shorter daylight because of the winter season. Karachi, ironically, experienced its first spell of rain since the wee hours of Sunday, and to weather forecast it would not last longer. A number of preliminary-round games in the prestigious national tournament were badly curtailed by poor weather.

The venues of both finals, to be played simultaneously from Feb 24 to 28, would be decided later, according to the PCB media release.

Both the Super Eight and Bottom Six Teams’ segments start from Wednesday with matches in both leagues to be played in two groups.

In the Super Eight section, Group ‘A’ has Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sialkot and Karachi Whites, while the four sides in Group ‘B’ are Lahore Shalimar, Lahore Ravi, Hyderabad and Karachi Blues. The teams finishing top in both groups would then play the final.

Abbottabad, Faisalabad and Multan make up Pool ‘A’ of the Bottom Six Teams’ event with Quetta, Peshawar and Bahawalpur fighting it out in Pool ‘B’. The top-finishers of both these pools would slug it out in the final.

Schedules:

Super Eight Group ‘A’: Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sialkot, Karachi Whites. Group ‘B’: Lahore Shalimar, Lahore Ravi, Hyderabad, Karachi Blues. Feb 6-9: Rawalpindi v Islamabad (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Lahore Shalimar v Lahore Ravi (LCCA Ground, Lahore). Feb 7-10: Karachi Whites v Sialkot (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Hyderabad v Karachi Blues (Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur). Feb 12-15: Islamabad v Sialkot (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Lahore Shalimar v Karachi Blues (LCCA Ground, Lahore). Feb 18-21: Islamabad v Karachi Whites (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Rawalpindi v Sialkot (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Lahore Ravi v Karachi Blues (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore); Lahore Shalimar v Hyderabad (LCCA Ground, Lahore). Feb 24-28: Final — Group ‘A’ winners v Group ‘B’ winners. Bottom Six Teams Pool ‘A’: Abbottabad, Faisalabad, Multan. Pool ‘B’: Quetta, Peshawar, Bahawalpur. Feb 6-9: Abbottabad v Multan (Gohati Cricket Ground, Swabi); Peshawar v Quetta (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar). Feb 12-15: Abbottabad v Faisalabad (Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur); Bahawalpur v Quetta (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan). Feb 18-21: Multan v Faisalabad (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan); Peshawar v Bahawalpur (Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur). Feb 24-28: Final — Pool ‘A’ winners v Pool ‘B’ winners.