President's Trophy final shifted again, this time from Karachi to Lahore

The final of the President's Trophy Grade 1 2026-27 first-class tournament in Pakistan, between State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Markhor IT Solutions (MITS), has been shifted to Lahore. The match will now be played at the Bagh-e-Jinnah cricket ground.

A PCB official told Cricinfo that the final had been moved not for a specific cricketing reason, but because of the ground's rich heritage when it came to first-class cricket.

The change in venue has also pushed the five-day contest back by two days. It will now be played from October 27 instead of from October 25. The PCB had earlier scheduled the final in Karachi at the SBP Sports Complex.

The Bagh-e-Jinnah, formerly known as Lawerence Gardens, is a pre-Independence-era cricket ground at the heart of Lahore. It has hosted three Tests; two in 1955 and the last in 1959, the same year Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium hosted its first Test and was later turned into the headquarters of the PCB.

The Bagh-e-Jinnah has not hosted first-class cricket since November 2005.

The ground has, however, hosted 148 first-class matches since 1923 and has even hosted three Ranji Trophy matches, in the pre-Partition years of 1934, 1942 and 1945.

SBP and MITS secured their berths in the title round after finish at the top of the eight-team President's Trophy table with two wins each from seven matches.

While SBP are regulars in the tournament, this season marks MITS' maiden appearance in it. They had secured promotion to the top-tier tournament after winning the President's Trophy Grade-II gold competition last season.