Pakistan Super League

Pakistan Super League
Countries	Pakistan
Administrator	Pakistan Cricket Board
Format	Twenty20
First tournament	2014/15
Next tournament	2014/15
Tournament format	Round-Robin and knockout
Number of teams	6 (current)
Qualification	Champions League Twenty20
TV	List of broadcasters television
Website	psl.cricket.com.pk
2014/15 Pakistan Super League

The Pakistan Super League (PSL; Urdu: پاکستان سپر لیگ‎) is a major professional Twenty20 cricket league in which six franchised clubs will participate. Headquartered in Lahore, the PSL will become the premier professional cricket league in Pakistan replacing the Super-8 T20 Cup. The inaugural 2013 season was supposed begin on 26 March 2013 but has since been postponed due to tight bidding schedules and cricket boards not handing out No Objection Certificate to players. Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to start the first edition of PSL T20 in UAE in December 2014 & January 2015.

History

T20 Cup years

The history of the Pakistan Super League begins with the end of its predecessor league, the Faysal Bank T20 Cup (known previously as the ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup and the RBS Twenty-20 Cup). The Faysal Bank T20 Cup began in the 2004–05 season and quickly became the premier professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan with 14 member clubs, of which are 13 were located in Pakistan and 1 in Afghanistan. It also became the first cricket league in South Asia outside of Australia and England. The Faysal Bank T20 Cup was awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. Of the 9 played seasons, the Sialkot Stallions were the most dominant team winning the championship a total of 6 times. The 2012–13 season was the final season of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup in which the Lahore Lions defeated the Faisalabad Wolves by 33 runs at Lahore.

2008 Launch

Rumours of a proposed Pakistan Premier League had been in the media and in June 2008, the PCB officially announced the launch of the Pakistan Super League. The league was planned to begin in September 2009 however, due to domestic security concerns the plans were shelved. Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, said the tournament "would be modeled on the franchise system similar to the IPL. We have had meetings with two international companies interested in the event and we are confident international companies will buy franchises in the Twenty20 league". A budget of Rs3.9 billion for the current fiscal year was approved to the PCB for the event, which included plans to build 35 new stadiums in the country and renovate existing ones.^[1]

2013 Launch

In November 2012 Haroon Lorgat, former ICC chief executive, was hired by the Pakistan Cricket Board to set up the proposed Pakistan Super League, contributing at a strategic level to ensure the board was headed in the right direction. "It's not a long time from now to then but there is still a lot of planning and work has been done and a lot to be done but I can see that there is a lot of energy to get this league off the ground, "Haroon Lorgat said while at the PCB headquarters in Lahore.^[2] The Pakistan Super League is also being used by the PCB as a stepping-stone for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan. In October 2012, a World XI side played two unofficial T20s against a combined Pakistan XI in Karachi. On 10 January 2013, the Pakistan Super League logo was officially unveiled to the public in an event organized by the PCB in Lahore. Top Pakistan cricketers including the PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf and former ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat were among those who attended the event.^[3]

2014 Re-Launch

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) plans of involving international cricketers in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) are likely to get a boost after some Australian players, who took part in the Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL), indicated that they would like to be a part of the event. It has been learnt that the Pakistani players, who were part of the SLPL, tried convincing foreign players to participate in the PSL and received an encouraging response from them. The Australians part of SLPL included Brad Hodge, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes and Adam Voges among others. “Australian players have shown interest in the PSL,” a PCB official told The Express Tribune. “They were receiving $20,000-$35,000 in SLPL and with an opportunity of earning up to $100,000 in Pakistan, we’re hopeful it will be an attractive enough proposition for them. Their presence would be vital to our pursuit of the revival of international cricket in Pakistan.” The official was hopeful that a successfully executed PSL would help them to host international matches in Pakistan. “We need to set a precedent through the PSL that Pakistan is safe for sports and it won’t be difficult in convincing teams to play here as it’s right now.” He added that PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf was trying to get PSL declared tax-free so players could reap maximum financial benefits from the event.^[4]

League structure

Franchises Auction

Salman Sarwar Butt MD PSL was quoted as "We’ve had a lot of interest in the purchase of the franchises from both within Pakistan and outside Pakistan. We’ve had large corporate companies from within Pakistan looking at ownership of franchises and also Pakistani businessmen expressing an interest in franchise ownership. We’ve also had multinational groups confirming their interest in franchises so I’m delighted with the levels of interest we’ve had and hopefully very soon we can tie up the buyouts."^[5][6]

Players

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that for the first 3 years, the league will consist of five teams with 6 foreign players in each team as well as 10 local players and 2 emerging players. A positive response has come from Sri Lanka Cricket, Cricket Australia and South Africa according to Zaka Ashraf. Indian players are also keen to attend the PSL.^[7][8] Player auction is expected in last week of February as Salman Sarwar Butt MD PSL speaks " Right now we are targeting the end of February, but it will all depend on when the franchise buyout deals are closed. We had initially planned for the last week of February, around the 24th to 26th of the month but this is still tentative as the franchise buyouts need to be complete before the auction can take place".^[9]

Season

The inaugural season will be played over 15 days and would involve a total of 23 matches, being at a single venue. Teams will play each other twice in a league format before the top four teams qualify for the semi-finals.

Teams

Islamabad

Sialkot

Lahore

Faisalabad

Karachi

Pakistan Super League venues

Team	City	Owner(s)	Home Ground	Capacity		Price	Captain	Head coach
Karachi Super Stars	Karachi, Sindh		Karachi National Stadium	34,228			Shahid Afridi	TBD
Lahore Warriors	Lahore, Punjab		Gaddafi Stadium	62,000			Ahmad Shahzad	TBD
Faisalabad Rangers	Faisalabad, Punjab		Iqbal Stadium	25,000			Umar Akmal	TBD
Royal Kings Peshawar	Peshawar, , KPK, Pakistan		Arbab Niaz Stadium	25,000			Umar Gul	TBD
Sialkot Smashers	Sialkot, Punjab		Jinnah Stadium Sialkot	30,000			Haris Sohail	TBD

Officials & Umpires

International umpires Rudi Koertzen, Mike Procter and Russell Tiffin who might umpire alongside Pakistan's Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf.^[10]

• Umpires are yet to be announced for the 2014 Season

Future Expansion

The Pakistan Cricket Board has ambitious plans to expand the league in the fourth season to eight teams with a 59-match tournament.

Television and Radio

Signing a broadcast deal by the Pakistan Cricket Board will be done before the end of February 2013, following broadcasters are rumored to be part of broadcasting rights

• PTV Sports
• TEN Sports OR Geo Super
• Nimbus Entertainment
• Power FM 99
• Sky Sports

See also

• Pakistan Cricket Board

References

External links