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Willow Creek is a small hamlet in Northern California that is most famous for its reported sightings of Bigfoot, a big, hairy primate that locals say they have seen walking through the woods. Despite the lack of reliable evidence, aficionados continue to ardently believe in the existence of this creature.
Which gets us, very neatly, to the subject of Pakistan’s Champions One-Day Cup, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday and run through September 29. The PCB, often unrestrained by evidence like those in Willow Creek, has waxed poetic about its importance and the myriad benefits it will bring. Despite the fact that almost all of the players engaged are already part of the system, it will give Pakistan access to a depth of new talent.
There is, however, an undeniable side benefit: the excitement surrounding the competition has generated interest never before seen for a local, domestic event. This is essentially a Pakistan Cup with bells and frills, but only the most dedicated could tell you anything about what transpired in the competition’s 2023 edition, let alone who emerged victorious.
All the stops have been drawn on this one. The five mentors receive a total of around PKR 25 million per month in compensation, with their three-year contracts totalling approximately PKR 900 million. The prize money pool is almost half that of the PSL. To put things in perspective, Peshawar, the winners of the previous year’s Pakistan Cup, received prize money totalling PKR 5 million, which is roughly equivalent to one mentor’s wage for a month of competition this year.
With red-ball coach Jason Gillespie arriving later and white-ball coach Gary Kirsten arriving by plane, almost every Pakistani international cricket player is available to play. The competition has been scheduled to take place during Pakistan’s only open international window until mid-April 2025, which is significant because, in an increasingly condensed cricket calendar, even the PSL—the PCB’s real prestige project and biggest revenue generator for the majority of its existence—must compete for space.
Every Champions Cup match will be broadcast on television and streamed live, with official media partners being five different teams. It has been argued that artificial intelligence is a crucial component in team selection.
Concurrently, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, which was formerly a well-known cricket venue before drifting into disuse, is quietly seeing a slow comeback, which this event is expected to speed up. The city, which is expected to profit from renovations and construction at the more established venues in Lahore and Karachi, will host the Champions Cup for its whole duration.
The impending Test tour by England has highlighted Pakistan’s critical need for more hosting options, since the absence of Lahore and Karachi has left the calendar bewildered and disorganised. Pakistan will only benefit from the reopening of Iqbal Stadium to its sporting potential with an event that the PCB has so urgently wanted to take Test cricket into smaller locations.
Financial sustainability is a topic that has before been discussed and is still urgently lacking a satisfactory response. There is still doubt as to whether the Champions Cup is a well-thought-out strategic shift or a transient vanity project, and there are worries about the board’s commitment to the PSL.
However, the number of fans watching the Panthers play the Markhors tomorrow would be orders of magnitude higher than the one that witnessed Lahore Whites defeat Lahore Blues in the Pakistan Cup opener last year. This match will pit teams led by Shadab Khan and Muhammad Rizwan against one another.
With as great a lineup as possible, it will draw attention to rival any domestic one-day competition worldwide, and that is hardly the worst thing that can happen. Furthermore, there will be plenty of time after the tournament to ascertain whether AI’s alleged long-term benefits were fictitious and whether it was truly so intelligent. This is especially true in a competition where AI’s role has been loudly proclaimed.