The Pakistan Cricket Board is all set to launch the Talent Hunt Program for Schools during September 2025.
It will comprise two tournaments – a 40-over red-ball tournament followed by the Weekend School league, comprising two-day matches.
The Board has shortlisted a total of 405 schools from 39 districts across Pakistan. They will take part in the 40-over tournament after an in-depth and on-ground scrutiny of the available infrastructure. The PCB will consider willingness of various schools to participate in the program.
Around 3,000 schools had registered interest after PCB’s call to action in March earlier this year. More schools are expected to be taken on board following the first season of the Talent Hunt Program. The PCB has directed the respective regional and district coaches to execute the Talent Hunt Program.
From Wednesday, August 20, around 60 PCB coaches will conduct trials in the registered schools in their respective catchment areas to assemble teams for the 40-over tournament. Following the trials, all the schools will conduct preparatory camps under their respective PT teachers and district coaches.
PCB Talend Hunt Program:
The 40-over tournament is expected to begin on September 20. The schools in each district will take on each other. After Inter-District fixtures, the top school from each district will advance to the knockout stage consisting of quarter finals, semifinals and final.
The PCB will award with an overseas tour to winner of the tournament. The top-performing schools in each district will qualify for the Weekend Schools League over the course of winter. Many expect top 100 schools out of the 405 will be part of the latter tournament.
The top performers of both the school tournaments will be scouted by the PCB coaches and invited to take part in High-Performance camps in PCB’s academies, while they will also be eligible for direct selection in their respective regional U15 and U17 teams for pathway tournaments.
In the whole process, the PCB will also assist a number of schools with rehabilitation of their respective cricket grounds, provision of kits, professional match officials and other cricket operations-related matters.
Breakdown of participating schools:
Punjab (134)
Lahore (30), Faisalabad (16), Sialkot (11), Gujranwala (11), Bahawalpur (10), Rahim Yar Khan (10), Dera Ghazi Khan (10), Multan (10), Rawalpindi (6), Sargodha (10) and Sahiwal (10)
Sindh (82)
Karachi (38), Hyderabad (12), Sukkur (8), Mirpurkhas (8), Shaheed Benazirabad (8) and Larkana (8)
Balochistan (81)
Quetta (16), Naseerabad (12), Pishin (10), Khuzdar (10), Lasbela (6), Loralai (6), Jaffarabad (6), Nushki (5), Killa Abdullah (5) and Sibi (5)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (68)
Mansehra (12), Swabi (12), Peshawar (10), Bannu (8), Swat (8), Mardan (8), Kohat (7) and Abbottabad (5)
Islamabad (20)
Gilgit-Baltistan (8)
Azad Jammu & Kashmir (12)
Mirpur (8) and Muzaffarabad (4)
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