The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a major professional Twenty20 cricket league in which five 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 Qatar from 4 February 2016 to 24 February 2016.
PSL Teams
There are five teams suggested to participate in the inaugural season of the Pakistan Super League. 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.
The PCB has ambitious plans to expand the league in the fourth season to eight teams with a 59-match tournament. these will be played in Karachi. Sialkot Stallions led by Shoaib Malik is already participating in Champions League T20 held in December 2012.
The Stallions became the first Pakistan domestic team to officially receive an invitation to play in the Champions League Twenty20, held in the South Africa in 2012. Here’s the official PSL teams list for the 2016 inaugural season.
The unofficial teams list that are set to take in the inaugural season.
Karachi Super Stars
Lahore Warriors
Faisalabad Rangers
Federal Vipers
Sialkot Smashers
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 the South Asian subcontinent outside of Australia and England.
Thus, Pakistan was one of the first countries to start a domestic T20 competition. 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.
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.
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.
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.
More: Big names playing in the Pakistan Super League