The Pakistan Super League (PSL) (Urdu: پاکستان سپر لیگ) is a professionalTwenty20 cricket league in Pakistan composed of 5 member clubs representing cities. Headquartered in Lahore, the PSL is widely considered to be the premier professional cricket league in Pakistan. The PSL Cup will be awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.
The Pakistan Super League will be organized in 2016 From 4 feb To 24 Feb and will replace the existing Haier T20 Cup. The league will draw many highly skilled players from all over the world, and currently has players signed from approximately 11 different countries (9 Full and 2 Associate Members) . Pakistani players will constitute the majority of the players in the league.
History
T20 Cup years[edit]
Main article: Faysal Bank T20 Cup
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. Pakistan was one of the first countries to start a domestic T20 competition.[1] 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.
Launching attempts
The PCB officially announced the launch of the Pakistan Super League in September 2009, however due to domestic security concerns 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 was approved to the PCB for the league, which included plans to build and upgrade 35 new stadiums in the country.[2] According to Sethi, the PSL will be the next biggest cricket league after the IPL. Pakistan is the second largest cricket market in terms of population.[3] The PSL will also be the largest sporting event in the country.[4]
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 inLahore.[5] 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 Lorgatwere among those who attended the event.[6]
Foundation
In September 2015, the PCB officially announced the launch of the Pakistan Super League, with it's inaugural season to be played in 2016. Former captains Wasim Akram and Rameez Raja have signed formal contracts to be brand ambassadors of the PSL for the next three years. In its inaugural season, the PSL will only have five teams, with plans for an expansion to a ten league team over the next 5 seasons. The league will use a draft system for player recruitment, similar to that of theNational Football League in the United States, as opposed to the "auction" used in other T20 leagues. The PSL's official logo and anthem of the first season were launched on September 20, 2015 in a launching ceremony in Lahore. The anthem, Ab Khel Ke Dikha, was sung by Ali Zafar. The PSL Logo was revealed by 3Di through 3D Projection Mapping.[7]The ceremony was attended by present and retired cricketers, as well as showbiz celebrities. According To PCB 151 Foreign Players Have Shown Interest In playing PSL 2016
Inaugural Season
Main article: 2016 Pakistan Super League
The inaugural season is proposed for 20 days, scheduled from 4 February 2016 till 24 February 2016. It would involve a total of 24 matches.
Venues
All Matches would be played at 2 Grounds. Dubai Cricket Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium Conformed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday 24 Sep 2015 said the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be held from 4 to 24 February 2016 in Dubai and Sharjah,UAE.[8]
 United Arab Emirates | |
|---|---|
| Dubai | Sharjah |
| Dubai International Cricket Stadium | Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium |
| Capacity: 25,000 | Capacity: 27,000 |
 |  |
Teams
The five teams for the first season will represent five major cities of Pakistan:
Franchise Owners
According to the reports, around 20 parties have shown interest in buying 5 PSL franchises.[9] Shoaib Akhtar the former Pakistan fast bowler has expressed his interest in owning a franchise. Javed Afridi, the CEO of Haier, has also shown interest in owning a franchise.Najam Sethi on Thursday 24, September informed that 20 eligible parties had expressed interest to buy the five franchises. “Every franchise would hire former Pakistan players for getting advice on selecting the squad.
Proposed Franchises
The following 5 franchises have been proposed:
- Islamabad Rawalpindi representing the Islamabad Capital Territory and Punjab province
- Karachi representing Sindh province
- Lahore representing Punjab province
- Quetta representing Balochistan province
- Peshawar representing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
Prize Money
"PSL will offer up to USD 1 million (100 million rupees) in prize money while each franchise will be able to draft players and coaches for the team within a budget of 1 million US$," said PCB.[10][11] Pakistan Super League revealed it's official logo through 3D Projection Mapping show at the launch event.[12][13]
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has introduced a new attractive category to lure expensive international players for Pakistan Super League (PSL). PCB claims that some of the big names who have consented to play in the PSL include former England star Kevin Pietersen, master blaster Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell andDwayne Bravo (all from the West Indies), Bangladesh s Shakib Al Hassan and Sri Lanka s Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews. Price of players in the new category has been fixed at twenty million rupees. Earlier, the amount of top category ‘Platinum’ was around fourteen million rupees. The move was taken after a deadlock with cricket stars Chris Gayle and Pietersen on the issue of payment. Moreover, the price of Diamond category is seven million rupees, Gold five million rupees, Silver three million rupees and price of category of Emerging players is two million rupees.
Foreign Coach
“Top international coaches from seven countries have signed up on the Pakistan Super League roster. Eric Simons,Darren Berry,Chris Adams,Andy Moles,Gordon Greenidge, Mickey Arthur, Chaminda Vaas and Robin Singh are the top international coaches,” tweeted the official PSL account. PSL Governing Council officials also confirmed that they will release more names in the coming days as coaches and players continue to join the project. Salman Sarwar Butt who is the PSL project head, stated that the coaches will be divided into categories just like the players. However, their categorisation will not be on the same basis. PSL Governing Council officials also confirmed that they will release more names in the coming days as coaches and players continue to join the project.
