The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has completed its ten years. The Pakistan Super League, which started in Dubai in 2016, has entered its tenth season with all its ups and downs. On Friday afternoon, when the match between defending champions Islamabad and Lahore Qalandars will be played at the Rawalpindi Stadium.
It will be a proud moment for cricket fans that a league that could not even start on its soil and international players refused to come to Pakistan, that league has today become a popular and exciting league after the IPL. In these last ten years, there have been many occasions when the league was stopped and the matches could not start on time.
The initial outline of the PSL was made in 2015, and it was organized on the pattern of the IPL, which was an event that was very famous at that time. However, PSL adopted a drafting system instead of auctioning players due to a low investor base and limited resources. Initially, there were five teams, which were sold for a period of ten years, and the buyers had rights for up to ten years.
The experience of five teams was adequate for Dubai, but when it was planned to hold the last three matches of PSL in Pakistan in 2018, the need for another team was felt. Although teams named Kashmir, Gilgit and Sindh were under consideration, a sixth team named Multan Sultans was added in 2018 and it was sold for a record price of $5 million.
However, its initial owners, the Shoon Group, could not pay the installments, and then two years later it was handed over to the Tareen Group in 2020, who diligently made it a successful franchise.
All matches in Pakistan
PCB convinced foreign players to come and play in Pakistan by organizing a few matches in 2018 and 2019, and after their interest, PSL was completely shifted to Pakistan in 2020.
After successfully conducting five complete seasons in Pakistan, PCB proved all the predictions that foreign players would not come to Pakistan wrong.
If we look at the interest of the fans, apart from the quality of the arrangements, the PSL coming to Pakistan gave the spectators an interesting cricket and PSL became a national asset.
Controversies
Although the PSL has been free from controversies. But there were a couple of incidents that dented the reputation of PSL. In 2017, Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were found by the ICC Anti-Corruption Committee to be involved in contact with spot-fixing individuals. Both were already being monitored, but both were caught when they committed the planned fixing. And both were banned for five years.
The year 2021 was the worst year for PSL, when Corona gripped the league, the teams were in isolation due to Corona, but Peshawar Zalmi’s Wahab Riaz and Darren Sammy violated the isolation and met the team owner outside the bubble, which affected the team.
During this time, Corona affected many more players. After players of Lahore Qalandars Karachi Kings Islamabad United contracted Corona, the PSL was postponed on March 1, 2021, later the remaining matches of this season were played in Dubai in September 2021.
How Profitable Is PSL?
Although PSL has not proven to be very profitable financially, it is still called a profitable event even after completing its ten years. The event earned $ 2.3 million in its first season, of which 70% is from the PCB and thirty percent from the franchise owners. The PSL’s record revenue was in 2021 when the league made a net profit of $3 million during Ramiz Raja’s presidency.
This increased to $3.5 million the following year. The PSL’s main revenue comes from sponsorships, with Habib Bank being the biggest sponsor. They provide 60 percent of the revenue, while 40 percent comes from TV rights and gate money.
The PCB has started giving Rs900 billion to all franchises since 2021. The franchises complain that they are still not getting enough revenue to cover their expenses, while the PCB denies this claim. The size of the PSL has increased, and according to the calculations of a French institution, the market value of the PSL has reached $400 million.
According to the way PSL has marketed digital rights, the volume this year will be $500 million. If we compare it with other leagues, PSL looks on par with The Hundred and Big Bash League, but it is the second-largest league in terms of viewers.
Year 2025
The highlight of the league this year is the inclusion of many new international players, although it has been alleged that big players do not come to the PSL and most of the players are retired and dropped from their national teams.
Perhaps this accusation is true to some extent, but the truth is that many big players only play the IPL where they get the best remuneration, but some players became famous from the PSL and joined their national teams, the most prominent of which is Australia’s, Tim David.
This year, David Warner, Kane Williamson, and many other great players are part of the league. David Warner is leading the Karachi Kings. Other important players in the Karachi Kings are James Vince, Tim Seifert, and Muhammad Nabi, while local players Shan Masood, Amir Jamal, and Irfan Niazi are noteworthy. Karachi Kings have won the title once so far in 2019.
Islamabad United is the only team in the league that has won the title three times, and is the favorite this year as well. Along with captain Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Salman Ali, Agha, Colin Munro, and Matthew Short are the key players. Islamabad’s most important strength is their aggressive batting which takes control of the match from the start.
Lahore Qalandars have won the title twice and both of them were consistent, which makes Qalandars look like an individual team. Shaheen Shah Afridi continues as captain, although last year’s performance was very poor, but the team has high hopes this year.
In the presence of Fakhar Zaman, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Kiran Zaman Khan, and Sam Billings, the team is very balanced and it is expected that Lahore can win the title for the third time this year.
Multan Sultans’ team is also very strong and energetic this year. Muhammad Rizwan performs great every year. This year, the prominent players in the team will be Iftikhar Ahmed, Shai Hope, Michael Bracewell, David Wali, Usman Khan, Akif Javed and Chris Jordan. This is a group that, if they perform as a team, will make the opponent’s teeth gnash. However, Multan reaches the final every year and falls behind, and has only won the title once.
The best news for Peshawar Zalmi is that Saim Ayub has become fit and has been practicing for a week, the team is equipped with every weapon under the captaincy of Babar Azam, Mohammad Haris Cadmore, and Hussain Talat in batting, and the highlight of bowling is three excellent spinners: Arif Yaqoob Sufyan Muqim and Mehran Mumtaz are part of the team.
Although Peshawar’s fast bowling is a bit weak, Peshawar has always been a batting team, however, Mohammad Ali and Joseph Zari are two good bowlers.
The Quetta Gladiators are entering the field this year with their new young captain, Saud Shakeel. Quetta has signed Mike Chapman this year, while the evergreen Riley Rousseau is also present. The batting of Kushal Mendis, Shoaib Malik, and Finn Allen will be noticeable; the bowling is also balanced, and the fast bowling of Mohammad Amir, Khurram Shahzad, and Kyle Jamieson, along with the spin bowling of Abrar Ahmed, can turn the match upside down. Former captain Sarfraz Ahmed will be the mentor of the team. If Quetta shows 100 percent performance, then there are good chances.
Overall, the PSL has provided great entertainment to cricket fans in its ten years, but it is also a fact that the PSL has failed to fill the stadiums in Karachi. Now people do not want to come to the stadium and watch, only 5 matches have been held in Karachi, despite the final in Karachi last year, the stadiums remained empty, due to which the board has not given Karachi priority this season.
Even after ten years, the PSL has not been able to recognize itself as a thrilling league and due to the lack of attractive incentives and fees, the PSL is deprived of big players. The PSL administration is also reducing its popularity by adopting a traditional, stereotypical approach instead of innovation, which former chairman and founder of the PSL idea, Najam Sethi, has also complained about.
