The debate about whether Pakistan’s domestic cricket structure be departmental or regional is as old as the country itself. It all started in 1953‘s inaugural Quaid-e-Azam trophy when 2 departmental teams, Railways and Combined Services competed against 5 regional teams of Karachi, Punjab, Bahawalpur, Sindh and NWFP. Bahawalpur beat Punjab in the finals to win the National Title.
The scorecard of this historic match can be seen here. In my opinion, it opened this pandora box that even in 2009 we haven’t made up our mind whether domestic cricket should be regional or departmental. I think it can be both as long as they are kept separate. For example, who would have an interest in a match between Lahore and WAPDA with WAPDA players also hailing from Lahore? However a Karachi vs Lahore will be a certain crowd puller.
What makes the domestic cricket scene in Pakistan more confusing is whenever the Cricket board management changes, the format of domestic cricket tournaments also changes.
