Shaheen Afridi to return to domestic first-class cricket

In Pakistan, fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is set to play for Khan Research Laboratories in the President’s Trophy Grade-I tournament on September 12, returning to domestic first-class cricket after a long break. KRL will begin the competition with a match against Ghani Glass at Imran Khan Stadium in Peshawar, Dawn reports.

First game since 2019

Afridi’s last confirmed domestic first-class match took place on October 28, 2019. He then represented Northern in a game against Southern Punjab in Sialkot as part of the 2019–2020 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

The 26-year-old left-arm bowler made his Pakistan debut in 2018 and has played 34 Test matches, taking 126 wickets. Recently, he was not included in Pakistan’s squads for Test tours of the West Indies and England.

Last month, Afridi led Pakistan Gold to victory in the National Champions Cup. In the four-team tournament, he was the leading wicket-taker with 13, including a hat-trick in the final.

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Start of the domestic season

The President’s Trophy Grade-I will open the 2026–2027 domestic red-ball cricket season. The tournament will run from September 12 to October 28, with eight teams playing 28 four-day matches in a round-robin format. Each team will play seven matches, and the top two will advance to a five-day final.

Faheem Ashraf has also been named for KRL alongside Afridi. All-rounder Shadab Khan will play for Ghani Glass. Kingsmen Academy will be represented by Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Saim Ayub; Imam-ul-Haq will lead OGDCL; Haris Rauf will play for Pakistan Television; and Mohammad Rizwan will represent Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited.

Tournament matches will be hosted in Peshawar, Abbottabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Two new first-class teams, MIT Solutions and Kingsmen Academy, have also joined the competition after promotion from President’s Trophy Grade-II.

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