The Pentangular Trophy was a first-class cricket competition that was held intermittently in Pakistan between 1973–74 and 2011–12.
The Pentangular Trophy was first contested in 1973–74. From 1977 to 1978 through to 1979–80 it was known as the BCCP Invitation Tournament.[1] Between 1980–81 and 1986–87, with the exception of 1983–84 when it was not held, it was called the PACO Cup under the sponsorship of the Pakistan Automobile Corporation. After 1983–84, it was only held three times, in 1990–91, 1994–95 and 1995–96, until it was revived in 2005–06.[2] [3] In 2007–08 it became a five-team regional tournament and was then held every season until 2011–12, after which it again went into abeyance.
As the name suggests, the Pentangular Trophy was usually contested between five teams, although there were sometimes as many as ten, who played each other on a round-robin basis, with the winner being the determined by the leader in the points table or by means of a final. The participants were originally selected by the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP) before qualification criteria were introduced. Commonly this was the top teams in the two leading first-class competitions played earlier in the season, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Patron's Trophy.[2] [3]
| Season | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Pentangular Trophy | ||
| 1973–74 | Pakistan International Airlines | |
| 1974–75 | National Bank of Pakistan | |
| 1975–76 | Pakistan International Airlines | |
| BCCP Invitation Tournament | ||
| 1977–78 | Habib Bank | |
| 1978–79 | Habib Bank + Pakistan International Airlines | |
| 1979–80 | Pakistan International Airlines | |
| Pakistan Automobile Corporation (PACO) Cup | ||
| 1980–81 | Pakistan International Airlines | |
| 1981–82 | Habib Bank | |
| 1982–83 | Habib Bank | |
| Tournament not held in 1983–84 | ||
| 1984–85 | United Bank Limited | |
| 1985–86 | Pakistan Automobiles Corporation | |
| 1986–87 | Pakistan International Airlines | |
| Pentangular Trophy | ||
| Tournament not held between 1986–87 and 1990–91 | ||
| 1990–91 | United Bank Limited | |
| Tournament not held between 1990–91 and 1994–95 | ||
| 1994–95 | National Bank of Pakistan | |
| 1995–96 | United Bank Limited | |
| Tournament not held between 1995–96 and 2005–06 | ||
| Pentangular Cup | ||
| 2005–06 | National Bank of Pakistan | |
| 2006–07 | Habib Bank | |
| 2007–08 | Sindh | |
| RBS Pentangular Cup | ||
| 2008–09 | North-West Frontier Province | |
| 2009–10 | Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited | |
| Pentangular Cup | ||
| 2010–11 | Sindh | |
| 2011–12 | Punjab | |