Pakistan Super League

Countries	Pakistan
Administrator	Pakistan Cricket Board
Headquarters	Gaddafi Stadium
Format	Twenty20
First edition	2016
Latest edition	2025
Tournament format	Double round-robin andPlayoffs
Number of teams	6 (8 in 2026)
Current champion	Lahore Qalandars (3rd title)
Most successful	Islamabad United Lahore Qalandars (3 titles each)
Most runs	Babar Azam (3,792)[1]
Most wickets	Hasan Ali (125)[2]
TV	Pakistan PTV Sports A Sports Ten Sports International List of broadcasters
Website	psl-t20.com

ThePakistan Super League (PSL), also known asHBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professionalTwenty20 cricket league inPakistan, organised by thePakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league currently features (since2018 PSL) six city-based franchise teams. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, the league is a single entity in which each franchise is owned and controlled by the investors.^[3]

Each team plays the group-stage matches in adouble round-robin format and the top four teams with the most points qualify for the playoffs, culminating in the final.

As of 2025, there have been ten seasons of the league.Islamabad United andLahore Qalandars are the most successful teams, both winning three titles each.

In September 2015, thePakistan Cricket Board officially announced the launch of the PSL. FormerPakistani national team captainsWasim Akram andRameez Raja signed up to promote the PSL and becomebrand ambassadors of the league for three years.^[4] After several years of planning and two previous failed attempts,^[5][6] the league officially began on 4 February 2016 in theUnited Arab Emirates. The UAEsports minister,Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, inaugurated the opening ceremony.^[7] The first two seasons included five teams based on the capital cities of Pakistan's provinces and the Federal capital.^[8][9] In its first season the PSL had a higher percentage of international players. The league uses a draft system for player recruitment similar to that used in many North American professional sports leagues and as opposed to the auction system used in some other T20 leagues.^[10]

The PSL's official logo was launched on 20 September 2015 in a ceremony inLahore, and was revealed by 3Di.The ceremony was attended by current and retired cricketers, as well as Pakistani celebrities.

The commercial rights to the initial franchises were sold forUS$93 million for a span of 10 years in December 2015. The market value of PSL in 2017 was up to US$300 million according toArif Habib,^[11] and has grown significantly in the years since.^[12]

The league expanded to six franchises with the inclusion ofMultan Sultans for the2018 season. The PCB had shortlistedFaisalabad,FATA,Hyderabad,Dera Murad Jamali andMultan as candidate cities,^[13] with several political and regional stakeholders expressing interest in securing representation for their areas.^[14]Multan Sultans was announced as the new franchise on 1 June 2017, purchased bySchön Properties for US$5.2 million per year.^[15][16] On 10 November 2018, the PCB terminated the franchise agreement with Schön Properties, after which new owners took control and retained the Multan Sultans name.^[17]

Ahead of the2026 season, thePakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed the league would expand from six to eight teams.^[18] Six candidate cities are shortlisted for the new franchises:Hyderabad,Sialkot,Muzaffarabad,Faisalabad,Gilgit andRawalpindi.^[19]

In May 2016, thePCB announced that the inaugural season of the PSL had yielded profits ofUS$2.6 million.^[20] In the2022 edition, which was held entirely in Pakistan, PCB chairmanRamiz Raja reported a 71 percent increase in the PSL's profit; each franchise receivedRs. 900 million (US$3.1 million) in revenue before the season had started.^[21] The2023 edition recorded revenue of Over Rs. 5 Billion. The revenue was accumulated through various sources, including broadcasting rights, title sponsorship,gate money, and other related rights.^[22][23]

The PSL is played in a doubleround-robin format. Every team plays each other twice and the top four advance to the Playoffs. The playoffs use thePage playoff system, like the Indian Premier League.

The league follows the rules and regulations dictated by theInternational Cricket Council. However, it introduced DRS system in T20s which was later emulated byInternational Cricket Council as well. In the group stage, two points are awarded for a win, one for a no-result and none for a loss. In the event of tied scores after both teams have faced their quota of overs, asuper over is used to determine the match winner. In the group stage teams are ranked on the following criteria:

1. Higher number of points
2. If equal, better run rate
3. If equal, highest number of wins
4. If equal, fewest losses
5. If still equal, the results of head-to-head meeting

In any play-off match in which there is no result, a super over is used to determine the winner. If the super over is not possible or the result of the over is a tie, the team which finished in the highest league position at the end of the regular season is deemed the winner of the match.

The PSL traditionally been held between February and March each year, with the only major disruption occurring during theCOVID-19 pandemic. The league previously took place before the start of theIndian Premier League. The2025 season was the last to be held in the traditional February-March slot, during which it overlapped with the IPL for the first time.^[24] However, scheduling changes announced by thePakistan Cricket Board in 2025 confirmed that from the2026 season onward, the PSL would move to an April-May window to improve overseas player availability and avoid weather disruptions.^[25]

Peshawar Zalmi

Islamabad United

Lahore Qalandars

Multan Sultans

Quetta Gladiators

Karachi Kings

class=notpageimage|

Cities represented by PSL teams

According to a PCB press release, around 20 parties showed an interest in buying franchises for the league before the first season.^[26] On 18 October 2015 thePakistan Cricket Board began accepting tenders for franchises with a deadline for bids of 15 November.^[27] Bid winners were granted the rights to a franchise for ten years.^[28]

All five franchises for the first season of the league were sold on 3 December 2015, for a total price ofUS$93 million, after seven bidders presented formal proposals.^[29][30]

In April 2017, the PCB invited bids for a sixth team. As many as 40 national and international parties expressed an interest in buying the sixth franchise^[31] and on 1 June the rights to the Multan franchise was bought bySchön Properties for a price ofUS$5.2 million a year, the most expensive franchise rights in the league.^[32] In November 2018, however, the rights were terminated by the PCB due to issues with payments. The rights were resold to a consortium led by Ali Tareen forUS$6.35 million.

In November 2025, following the conclusion of the original ten-year agreements, the PCB conducted a re-evaluation of franchise values throughErnst & Young. The financial model was shifted from US dollars toPakistani Rupees for the next ten-year cycle (2026–2035). Five of the original six franchises renewed their rights under the new valuation terms, with annual fees set atRs. 670 million forLahore Qalandars,Rs. 640 million forKarachi Kings,Rs. 490 million forPeshawar Zalmi,Rs. 480 million forIslamabad United, andRs. 340 million forQuetta Gladiators.^[33][34] As of late November 2025,Multan Sultans had not yet finalized a renewal agreement.^[35]

The PCB confirmed that the PSL would expand from six to eight teams beginning with the2026 season, following the expiry of the original franchise agreements after the2025 edition.^[36][37] In November 2025 the PCB published a shortlist of six candidate cities for the two new franchises:Hyderabad,Rawalpindi,Faisalabad,Gilgit,Muzaffarabad andSialkot.^[38]

Notes

Thefirst season of the PSL was played entirely in theUnited Arab Emirates due to security reasons.^[39][40] The inaugural champions wereIslamabad United, who defeatedQuetta Gladiators in the final.Peshawar Zalmi were the 2017 PSL champions, beating Quetta Gladiators inLahore on 5 March 2017. Islamabad United were the 2018 PSL champions, beating defending championsPeshawar Zalmi on 25 March 2018. Quetta Gladiators defeated Peshawar Zalmi to win their first title on 17 March 2019 inKarachi, in 2020Karachi Kings took the trophy home.^[41]Multan Sultans, who won their first title defeatingPeshawar Zalmi on 24 June 2021 in Abu Dhabi.Lahore Qalandars won their first title on 27 February 2022, against reigning championsMultan Sultan. Lahore Qalandars again defeated Multan Sultans with a minor margin of 1 run to win their consecutive 2nd title of the tournament in its 8th edition on 18 March 2023.Islamabad United became first team to win three title on 18 March 2024 when they defeated Multan Sultans by 2 wickets. It was Multan's fourth consecutive final and third consecutive runner up finish. Misbah-ul-Haq is most successful captain of the League.

Key

• W: Winner;
• RU: Runner-up;
• PO: Eliminated in the play-off stage
• Grp: Eliminated in the group stage

Teams are ranked by the number of titles won, in case of a tie, the team with more runner-up appearances is ranked higher and then by alphabetical order.

From its inception, the Pakistan Super League has featured new trophy designs for most editions. Theinaugural 2016 "Shooting Star" trophy was designed bySwarovski and unveiled inDubai ahead of the first season, followed by the "Spirit Trophy" in 2017 which continued Swarovski’s involvement.^[42][43] Similar Swarovski-made trophies were used in the 2018 and 2019 seasons before production shifted to Pakistan.^[44][45]

On 19 February 2020, the first domestically made trophy was unveiled by squash legendJahangir Khan and PCB chairmanEhsan Mani at theNational Stadium, Karachi. The 65-centimetre-tall, eight-kilogram design featuring a crescent and star was used from 2020 to 2022, with each champion’s name engraved on its base.^[46] In 2023, a new silver-plated "Supernova" trophy, crafted by Lahore-based Mahfooz Jewellers, was introduced at theShalimar Gardens inLahore, the first to be fully produced in Pakistan.^[47][48]

The most recent design, the "Luminara", was revealed on 14 March 2025 through a video on the PSL’s official YouTube channel. It incorporated luminous crystal and reflective metalwork to mark a decade of PSL cricket.^[49][50]

TheHanif Mohammad award and a green cap are awarded to the leading run-scorer. It is an ongoing competition with the leading run-scorer wearing the cap throughout the tournament until the final game, with the eventual winner keeping the cap and receiving the award for the season. TheFazal Mahmood award and a maroon cap are awarded to the leading wicket-taker in the same way whilst theImtiaz Ahmed award is awarded to the best wicket-keeper. All three awards were introduced in the second PSL season.^[51][52]

The PSL's initial title sponsorship was awarded toHBL Pakistan for three years in December 2015.^[53] At that time sponsorship deals for the league, including the title sponsorship, were estimated to be worth more than US$6 million.^[54] HBL renewed its title sponsorship in 2018 and again in 2021, extending its arrangement through the 2025 season.^[55]

In October 2025, HBL extended its title sponsorship for two further PSL seasons (2026–2027). The value of the title sponsorship agreement increased 505% compared to the original 2016 deal.^[56][57]

The league signed a broadcast production deal with UK–based companySunset and Vine for the first three seasons of the competition.^[59] Domestically TV broadcast rights were sold toPTV Sports andTen Sports for the same period,^[60] with digital broadcast rights sold toYouTube in Pakistan for the first season.^[61] The digital rights were subsequently sold cricketgateway.^[62][63]

For the period from 2019 to 2021, broadcast rights were sold to Blitz Advertising.^[64][65][66] Domestic TV rights for the same period were acquired byPTV Sports andGeo Network with cricketgateway retaining the digital rights.

From 2021 to 2025 broadcast rights were sold to TransGroup International^[67] with PTV Sports,A Sports and Ten Sports having the domestic broadcast rights until 2023.^[68][69] A Sports and Walee Technologies acquired these rights for the 2024–2025 seasons along with the digital streaming rights^{[citation needed]} which had been sold toDaraz for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.^[70][71]

The HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes campaign was introduced in 2020 season. The initiative rewarded prominent Pakistanis likesquash playerFarhan Mehboob, founder of ACF Animal RescueAyesha Chundrigar,mountaineerAli Sadpara, and professionaleSports playerArslan Ash. A total of 32HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes Awards were handed out during the 2020 season.^[95]

Since 2019, the league has reserved a day forbreast cancer awareness, with apink ribbon theme. A day has also been set aside to raise awareness ofchildhood cancer with a gold ribbon.^[96][97]

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