Pakistan Super League

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Instead of operating as an association of independently-owned teams, the league is a single entity in which each franchise is owned and controlled by investors.

Each team plays the group stage matches in a double round robin format; the top four teams with the most points qualify for the playoffs, culminating in the final. The league is based in the Pakistan Cricket Board office in Lahore.

There have been seven seasons of PSL. Islamabad United has won 2 titles, making it the most successful team of PSL. The current champions are Lahore Qalandars, who won the 2022 season.

History

Establishment

In September 2015, the Pakistan Cricket Board officially announced the launch of the PSL. Former Pakistani national team captains Wasim Akram and Rameez Raja signed up to promote the PSL and become brand ambassadors of the league for three years.
After several years of planning and two previous failed attempts,Pakistan Super League set to be moved to UAE
''Gulf Times'', 21 September 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2016.Rishad Mahmoud (2016
Pakistan Super League: Morale booster or gimmick?
''Al Jazeera'', 4 February 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016. the league officially began on 4 February 2016 in the United Arab Emirates where daughter of former Pakistani president, Asif Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, alongside Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, inaugurated the opening ceremony. The first two seasons included five teams based on the capital cities of Pakistan's provinces and the Federal capital.Qasim Nauman (2016
Pakistan Super League: Twenty20 Underdogs Quetta Gladiators Emerge as Favorites in Final
''The Wall Street Journal'', 23 February 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016. In its first season the PSL had a higher percentage of international players. The league uses a draft system for player recruitment similar to that used in many North American professional sports leagues and as opposed to the auction system used in some other T20 leagues.

The PSL's official logo was launched on 20 September 2015 in a ceremony in Lahore, and was revealed by 3Di.The ceremony was attended by current and retired cricketers, as well as Pakistani celebrities.

The commercial rights to the initial franchises were sold for for a span of 10 years in December 2015. The market value of PSL in 2017 was up to US$300 million according to Arif Habib, and has grown significantly in the years since.

Expansion

The possibility of adding a sixth team to the league in 2017,PSL to include a sixth team for the second edition
''ARY Sports'' 20 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016. possibly in Azad Kashmir, was discussed, but rejected in May 2016.Bilal khan dreams about including Kashmir in PSL
''ARY Sports'' 23 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.PSLs second edition to remain five team event
"The Express Tribune", 18 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016. Sethi announced that there would be the sixth team in next season of PSL, a few days after the end of the 2017 PSL. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra also announced that the PSL administration would be approached for the participation of a sixth team in the 2018 PSL. Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, also said to have the sixth team from Gilgit-Baltistan. The PCB short-listed five names for sixth team: Faisalabad, FATA, Hyderabad, Dera Murad Jamali and Multan.

The final name of the sixth team for PSL 2018 season was announced on 1 June 2017; Multan Sultans; owned by Schön Properties at $5.2 million annually. On 10 November 2018, PCB terminated franchise agreements with Schön Properties, resulting in a new owner being introduced. New owners decided to continue with the same name (Multan Sultans) for the franchise.

Profits

In May 2016, the PCB announced that the inaugural season of the PSL had yielded profits of . In the 2022 edition, which was held entirely in Pakistan, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja reported a 71 percent increase in the PSL's profit; each franchise received in revenue before the season had started.

Format

The PSL is played in a double round-robin format. Every team plays each other twice and the top four advance to the Playoffs.

The league follows the rules and regulations dictated by the International Cricket Council, although it introduced DRS system in T20s which was later emulated by International Cricket Council as well. In the group stage, two points are awarded for a win, one for a no-result and none for a loss. In the event of tied scores after both teams have faced their quota of overs, a super over is used to determine the match winner. In the group stage teams are ranked on the following criteria:

# Higher number of points
# If equal, better run rate
# If equal, highest number of wins
# If equal, fewest losses
# If still equal, the results of head-to-head meeting

In any play-off match in which there is no result, a super over is used to determine the winner. If the super over is not possible or the result of the over is a tie, the team which finished in the highest league position at the end of the regular season is deemed the winner of the match.

Schedule

PSL has taken place in February and March of each year. The only exception was the interruption due to COVID-19. The PSL has taken place prior to Indian Premier League. In 2025, PSL and IPL will overlap in timing.

Teams

According to a PCB press release, around 20 parties showed an interest in buying franchises for the league before the first season. On 18 October 2015 the Pakistan Cricket Board began accepting tenders for franchises with a deadline for bids of 15 November.

According to a statement by the PCB, bid winners would be granted the rights to a franchise for a term of ten years. Interested parties included the ARY Group, Omar Associates, Arif Habib Group, Haier, Mobilink as well as international groups including Leonine Global Sports and the Qatar Lubricants Company (QALCO).

All five franchises for the first season of the league were sold on 3 December 2015, for a total price of , after seven bidders presented formal proposals.

In April 2017, PCB invited bids for the sixth team and the deadline set for the submission of both the financial and technical proposals was 30 May and as many as 40 national and international parties expressed an interest in buying the sixth franchise.

On 1 June 2017, from five regions short-listed by PCB Multan was bought by Schön Properties for a price of per year becoming the most expensive team of the PSL. However, on 12 November 2018, its rights were terminated by PCB due to payment issues. PCB invited bids and resold the "6th team" to Ali Tareen consortium after successful bid with US$6.35 million for 7 years on 20 December 2018.

;Notes

Results

Due to security reasons, the first season of the PSL was played entirely in the United Arab Emirates. The inaugural champions were Islamabad United, who defeated Quetta Gladiators in the final. Peshawar Zalmi were the 2017 PSL champions, beating Quetta Gladiators in Lahore on 5 March 2017. Islamabad United were the 2018 PSL champions, beating defending champions Peshawar Zalmi on 25 March 2018. Quetta Gladiators defeated Peshawar Zalmi to win their first title on 17 March 2019 in Karachi, in 2020 Karachi Kings took the trophy home. Multan Sultans, who won their first title defeating Peshawar Zalmi on 24 June 2021 in Abu Dhabi. Lahore Qalandars won their first title on 27 February 2022, against reigning champions Multan Sultan.

Season results

Team results

; Notes
* = Winner;
* = Runner-up;
* (x) = End of league games table position;

Trophy

On 19 February 2020, the current version of trophy for the league was unveiled by squash player Jahangir Khan alongside then PCB chairman Ehsan Mani at National Stadium, Karachi. The 65 centimetres long trophy weighing eight kilograms has a crescent and star with multi colored strips of enamel and is being used in all events since 2020 PSL, with every year's winning team name to be engraved on it.

Individual awards

The Hanif Mohammad award and a green cap are awarded to the leading run-scorer. It is an ongoing competition with the leading run-scorer wearing the cap throughout the tournament until the final game, with the eventual winner keeping the cap and receiving the award for the season. The Fazal Mahmood award and a maroon cap are awarded to the leading wicket-taker in the same way whilst the Imtiaz Ahmed award is awarded to the best wicket-keeper. All three awards were introduced in the second PSL season.

Sponsorship

The PSL's initial title sponsorship was awarded to HBL Pakistan for 3 years in December 2015. Sponsorship deals associated with the league including the title sponsorship, are estimated to be worth more than $6 million. HBL later renewed their sponsorship for three more years. In 2021, PCB announced that HBL retained the title sponsorship of the PSL for 4 more years till 2025.

Broadcasters

For the first three seasons (2016–2018) of the league, Sunset and Vine were awarded production rights as official producers, and PTV Sports HD, Ten Sports HD and Geo Super HD were awarded broadcast rights in Pakistan with the PCB selling the global television rights to Tech Front, a UAE group. 4th, 5th and 6th seasons of the league was broadcast on PTV Sports HD and Geo Super HD in Pakistan. PSL sold its global television rights to Blitz Advertising for (2019–2021) period. It is believed to be closed to $36 million dollars, a 358% increase from its previous deal. For the next three seasons (2019–2021) the production rights were sold to TransGroup International. PSL local TV broadcast rights saw an increase of 50% for 2022–2023 period. The PSL signed a two-year broadcast deal worth USD 24 million for the 7th and 8th season of the league with local sports channels PTV Sports HD and A Sports HD. Later, Ten Sports HD also acquired the rights to broadcast. For the next four seasons (2022–2025) PSL sold the production rights to TransGroup International as official global Broadcaster.

International Broadcasters

Other media

Hamaray Heroes

The HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes campaign was introduced in the HBL PSL 2020 and received an overwhelming response as the initiative rewarded prominent Pakistanis like squash player Farhan Mehboob, founder of ACF Animal Rescue Ayesha Chundrigar, mountaineer Ali Sadpara and professional eSports player Arslan Ash. A total of 32 HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes Awards were handed out during the HBL PSL 2020. The HBL PSL 2021, like the previous year, continued recognizing Pakistanis for their achievements till the PCB has postponed the remainder of its premier T20 events aimed the global COVID-19 pandemic. Acclaimed Pakistanis rewarded during HBL PSL 2021 under the banner of HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes were footballer Kaleemullah Khan, security researcher Rafay Baloch, karate player Kulsoom Hazara, and mountaineer Mirza Ali Baig among others.

Cancer awareness

Since 2019, the league observes a day for breast cancer awareness with pink ribbon theme and a day for childhood cancer awareness with golden ribbon theme.

See also

* List of Pakistan Super League records and statistics
* List of Pakistan Super League cricketers
* List of Pakistan Super League centuries
* List of Pakistan Super League anthems
* Pakistan Super League opening and closing ceremonies
* Kashmir Premier League
* HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes Award by Pakistan Super League
* Cricket in Pakistan
* Pakistan Junior League
* Sports in Pakistan

References

External links

Official Website of PSL

Official YouTube Channel of PSL
(Subscribers: 4.04 Million & Views: 752 Million)


at ESPNcricinfo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan Super League

Twenty20 cricket leagues
Cricket leagues in Pakistan
Professional cricket leagues
Professional sports leagues in Pakistan
Sports leagues established in 2016
2016 establishments in Pakistan
Organisations based in Lahore