2019 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 4 or for sponsorship reasons HBL PSL 2019) was the fourth season of the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...

, a franchise

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

league which was established by the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

(PCB) in 2015. The tournament took place from 14 February to 17 March 2019. In the championship game,

Quetta Gladiators Quetta Gladiators (Urdu, Balochi: ) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They play most home games at the Gaddafi Stadium. The Gladiators won and became the champions in PSL ...

defeated

Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi (; ; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise Twenty20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The team is owned b ...

by eight wickets in Karachi to win the title for the first time.

Mohammad Hasnain Mohammad Hasnain (born 5 April 2000) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played for the Pakistan cricket team since 2019. He is one of the fastest bowlers currently, timed at over 150kmh. Early life Hasnain was born in a family of six tracing its ...

of Quetta was named the Man of the Match of the Final.

Shane Watson Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who played for and occasionally captained the Australia national cricket team, Australian national cricket team between 2002 and 2016. He ...

, also of Quetta, was awarded the Player of the Tournament award and the leading run scorer award with a total of 435 runs in the tournament. Hasan Ali of Peshawar was awarded the leading wicket taker award with a total of 25 wickets.

Background

On 10 November 2018, PCB terminated franchise agreements with the owner of Multan Sultans,

Schön Properties Schön Properties was a Dubai-based real estate developer owned by the Schon family, which originated in Pakistan. The company had been involved in several development projects in Dubai, including the Schon Business Park project and Dubai Lagoo ...

Ali Khan Tareen Ali Khan Tareen (born November 14, 1988, in Lahore, Pakistan) is a Pakistani businessman, politician, and social entrepreneur. He is the son of prominent politician and businessman Jahangir Tareen. Ali Tareen is known for his involvement in agric ...

later became the new owner of the team. On 14 November, PCB announced that HBL has renewed its partnership with PSL for 3 more years until 2021. On 21 December, Blitz Advertising won the broadcasting rights for 3 years on a bid of , which is 358% greater amount than before.

Broadcasting partners

The broadcasting rights of the 4th season of PSL were given to various Sports channels for covering the event in different countries. The broadcasting rights of the season in Pakistan were given to leading sports channels, PTV Sports & Geo Super, whereas in United States and Canada the rights were given to Willow TV. Hum TV was given the rights to broadcast the series in UK & Europe. The OTT rights for Middle-Eastern and North Africa Countries were given to Cricketgateway. In case of India the broadcasting rights were given to DSports which partnered with Daily Fantasy Site, MyTeam11, to co-present PSL in India.

Teams and squads

Each franchise retained up to 10 players during the trade and retention window that started on 29 September. A squad of 16 players, with 4 supplementary players, was then completed in players draft held at

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

on 20 November. On 16 December 2018, PSL announced that each team will have additional budget to select 21-member squad. The replacement draft was held on 24 January in Lahore.

Venues

On 12 June 2018, the franchises and PCB officials in a meeting decided against the idea of having a full PSL fourth edition in Pakistan. The new PCB chairman

Ehsan Mani Ehsan Mani (Urdu: ; born 23 March 1945) is a Pakistani chartered accountant who is the former president of International Cricket Council (ICC) and former chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Early life Mani was born in Rawalpindi Pakistan i ...

announced on 15 September that tournament was to start from 14 February 2019 in UAE, and the last eight games were to be held in Pakistan along with the final that will be played on 17 March in Karachi. For the first time, four PSL matches were played in Abu Dhabi. Originally, three matches were scheduled to be played in Lahore but due to logistical and operational challenges posed by the delayed opening of Lahore airspace for commercial flights following military tensions between Pakistan and India, the matches were shifted to Karachi. Mani said that PCB had made a critical decision and the "headquarters of Pakistan cricket will be unable to host" 2019 PSL matches.

Match officials

Umpires

* Faisal Afridi *

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer horror films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthur Holmwoo ...

Richard Illingworth Richard Keith Illingworth (born 23 August 1963) is an English former cricketer, who is currently an umpire. The bulk of his domestic cricketing career was with Worcestershire, although he had a spell with Derbyshire, and overseas with Natal. H ...

Ranmore Martinesz Ranmore Etholson John Martinesz (born 24 June 1967) is a Sri Lanka umpire and a former first-class cricketer. Martinesz played first-class cricket for the Moratuwa-based Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club. His career was short, with him ...

* Tariq Rasheed *

Ahsan Raza Ahsan Raza (born 29 May 1974) is a Pakistani cricket umpire and former cricketer. In November 2020, in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, he officiated in his 50th T20I match as an on-field umpire, becoming ...

Shozab Raza Shozab Raza (Urdu: شوزيب رضا) is a cricket umpire from Pakistan. Career Raza made his debut as an international umpire in 2012 when he officiated in a One Day International (ODI) match between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Sharjah Crick ...

Rashid Riaz Rashid Riaz (born 27 February 1976) is a Pakistani cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer. He has stood in matches in the 2015–16 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He officiated in his first Twenty20 International (T20I) match, between Pakistan and ...

Asif Yaqoob Asif Yaqoob (; born 11 November 1973) is a Pakistani cricket umpire. Career Yaqoob began his umpiring career in 2003. He stood in his first Twenty20 International (T20I) match, between Pakistan and Australia, on 26 October 2018. He stood in hi ...

Referees

* Mohammad Anees * Muhammad Javed *

Roshan Mahanama Deshabandu Roshan Siriwardene Mahanama (, ; born 31 May 1966) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a former ICC match referee. He was a key member for 1996 Cricket World Cup winning team for Sri Lanka. He is the first man to have stood as a ma ...

Promotion in media

The league was promoted on social media by the hashtag #HBLPSL due to its title sponsor, and by its official anthem # KhelDeewanoKa.

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on 14 February at

Dubai International Cricket Stadium The Dubai International Stadium, aka the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly used for cricket and is one of the three main cricket stadiums in the country, the other two being ...

, prior to the first match of the season. It was started by the national anthems of UAE "

Ishy Bilady is the national ''anthem'' of the United Arab Emirates. It was officially accepted as the national anthem of the UAE after the formation of the country in 1971. History and use It is not clear whether it was the Egyptian composer A compo ...

", and of Pakistan "

Qaumi Taranah The National Anthem of Pakistan, also known by its incipit "The Sacred Land", is the national anthem of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and formerly the Dominion of Pakistan. First composed by Ahmad G. Chagla in 1949, lyrics in the highl ...

" as usual. It then featured a marching band, which performed

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

's " The Final Countdown". Then, British singer

Marcia Barrett Marcia Barrett (born 14 October 1948) is a British singer and one of the original singers with the vocal group Boney M. Early years Barrett was born in Saint Catherine Parish, British Jamaica; her parents brought her to Croydon, England in ...

, from German band

Boney M. Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...

, performed her band's song " Daddy Cool".

Aima Baig Aima Noor-ul Ain Baig (, ; born 10 March 1995) is a Pakistani singer, known for her soundtracks in films and television. Started as appearing on Dunya News' program '' Mazaaq Raat'' during 2015–2017, she rose to fame from her songs in '' L ...

and

Shuja Haider Shuja Haider or Shuja Hyder (; ; born 20 November 1982) is a Pakistani singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. Haider is best known as a playback singer for films '' Khuda Kay Liye'' (2007) and '' Bol'' (2011) and more recently for ...

performed on their rendition of

Nazia Hassan Nazia Hassan (3 April 1965 – 13 August 2000) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, lawyer, political analyst and philanthropist. Referred to as the " Queen of South Asian Pop", she is considered one of the most influential singers in South Asia ...

and

Zohaib Hassan Zoheb Hassan (born November 18, 1966) is a Pakistani pop icon, singer, songwriter, producer, and was a part of the superduo Nazia and Zoheb, with his sister Nazia Hassan. Early career and breakthrough Zoheb and his sister Nazia spent their chi ...

's "

Disco Deewane ''Disco Deewane'' () is a 1981 Pakistani pop album released by the Pakistani singing duo, Nazia and Zoheb, comprising Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan, sister and brother respectively. The music was composed by Indian-British music director Biddu, ...

". Then members of Junoon band performed on their "

Yaar Bina "Yaar Bina" (Urdu: یار بنا, literal English translation: "without a friend") is a song by the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon, released in April, 1997. It is the fourth track from the band's album fourth album, '' Azadi'' (1997), released ...

", "Heerey" and "

Jazba-e-Junoon "Jazba-e-Junoon" (Urdu: جذبہ جنوں, literal English translation: "the spirit of passion") is a song by the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon. It is the thirteenth and final track from the band's album third album, '' Inquilaab'' (1996), ...

". The last performance included title anthem of the league's fourth season by

Fawad Khan Fawad Afzal Khan (born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani actor, producer, screenwriter, songwriter and singer known for his work in films and television. Khan is a recipient of several accolades, including a Filmfare Award, two Lux Style Awards ...

featuring Young Desi. Then, melody of

Ali Zafar Ali Zafar (; born 18 May 1980) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, actor, model, producer, screenwriter and painter. He started out on Pakistani television before becoming a popular musician, later also established a career in Bollywood and h ...

's previous anthems for PSL was played, followed by fireworks. A list of artists to perform at the ceremony was officially released on 18 January, according to which American rapper

Pitbull Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American B ...

was also confirmed to perform, however, later he withdrew due to a technical fault in his plane's engine.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony of the league, hosted by Fakhar-e-Alam, was held at National Stadium, Karachi, on 17 March prior to the league's final match. One minute silence was observed in respect of the martyrs of

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

. Then

Abrar-ul-Haq Abrar-ul-Haq () is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and a politician. His debut 1995 album ''Billo De Ghar'' sold over 40.3million albums worldwide, which made him a household name and granted him the title of "King of Pakistan ...

performed his song "Nach Majajan". Aima Baig and Shuja Haider once again paid tribute to Nazia Hassan by performing " Dosti" and "Disco Deewane". Fawad Khan featuring Young Desi performed the title anthem of the league's fourth season.

Sahir Ali Bagga Sahir Ali Bagga is a Pakistani singer, music director and composer from Lahore, who composes music for Lollywood and other independent singers. Recently he has composed music for the Lollywood, Pakistani movie, ''Zinda Bhaag (2013)''. He also ...

then performed a patriotic song "Har Dil Ki Awaz". Last performance was by Junoon, who sang " Zamaane Ke Andaaz", "Khudi Ko Kar Buland", "

Sayonee ''Sayonee'' ( ) is a song by the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon, released in April, 1997. It is the first track from the band's fourth album, '' Azadi'' (1997), released on EMI Records. Written by lead guitarist and founder of the band Salman Ah ...

" and "

Dil Dil Pakistan Dil Dil Pakistan () is a patriotic Pakistani song by Vital Signs, sung by Junaid Jamshed. Produced and Directed by Shoaib Mansoor. Lyrics by Shoaib Mansoor and Nisar Nasik. It was released in 1985 by the pop band Vital Signs. The song was featu ...

". The Chief Minister of Sindh,

Syed Murad Ali Shah Syed Murad Ali Shah (; born 8 November 1962) is a Pakistani politician and structural engineer who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Sindh province of Pakistan and a member of the Sindh Assembly. It is his third term as Chief mini ...

, Spanish World Cup winning footballer

Carles Puyol Carles Puyol Saforcada (, ; born 13 April 1978) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played List of one-club men in association football, his entire career for FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Considered one of the grea ...

and the cast of the upcoming Pakistani film ''

The Legend of Maula Jatt ''The Legend of Maula Jatt'' is a 2022 Pakistani Punjabi-language action drama film directed by Bilal Lashari and written by Nasir Adeeb. The film is an adaptation and a soft reboot of the 1979 Lollywood film '' Maula Jatt''. It is produ ...

'' also appeared at the ceremony. Army Chief Gen.

Qamar Javed Bajwa Qamar Javed Bajwa (; born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani four-star general who served as the tenth chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022. In 2018, he was ranked 68th in the ''Forbes'' list of ...

and Governor Sindh

Imran Ismail Imran Ismail (; born 1 January 1966) is a Pakistani businessman and politician. He served as the 33rd governor of Sindh from 27 August 2018 to 18 April 2022. Before being appointed Governor of Sindh, he was a member of the Provincial Assembly of ...

also attended the final match.

Cancer awareness

International Child Hood Cancer Awareness Day was observed on 15 February with golden ribbon as a theme, while Breast Cancer Awareness Day was observed on 10 March with pink ribbon as a theme. The stadiums were also themed respectively.

League stage

Format

The six teams all played 10 matches each and got 2 points for every win, none for a loss and 1 point for a no result. The top four teams in the group stage qualified for the play-offs.

Points table

Summary

League progression

Fixtures

The complete fixture schedule was released on 13 December 2018. On 3 March 2019, the updated schedule for Pakistan round was released. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- * ''Peshawar Zalmi's score of 20 at the end of the powerplay equalled the record low total'' ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Playoffs

Qualifier

Eliminators

Eliminator 1

Eliminator 2

Final

Awards and statistics

Most runs

received the Green Cap.

Most wickets

* Hasan Ali of

received the Maroon Cap.

Notes

References

External links

*
Official partner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan Super League, 2019 Domestic cricket competitions in 2018–19 2019 in Emirati cricket 2019 in Pakistani cricket 2019 in Sindh 2010s in Dubai 2010s in Karachi 21st century in Abu Dhabi Cricket in Karachi February 2019 sports events in Pakistan History of the Emirate of Sharjah March 2019 sports events in Pakistan Sport in Abu Dhabi Sport in Dubai Sport in Sharjah (city)