5 Things that you need to know about the PSL

5 Things that you need to know about the PSL: The inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), is developed on the lines of the T20 leagues running around the world, it will kick off on February 4, 2016. The tournament is all set to be the biggest event in the history of Pakistan cricket. The exposure that domestic cricketers get in Pakistan is lower in comparison to the nations that have their own leagues.

Thus, a tournament such as this will certainly boost up the domestic talent who will get to rub shoulders with the international greats. Many international cricketers have signed up for the mega event, that will be played in the UAE, and the PSL promises to be a huge success.

Here we have the 5 Things that you need to know about the PSL:

1. The Franchisees and the owners:

The inaugural edition of the PSL will comprise of 5 teams, each representing the 5 major cities of Pakistan- Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar. The Karachi franchise is owned by ARY Media group with a price of US$2.6 million. Lahore franchise was bought by Qatar Lubricants Company Limited for US$2.5 million. The chief sponsor of cricket in Pakistan, Haier, bagged the Peshawar franchise while Venture Capital Leonine Global Sports bagged Islamabad.

Quetta was sold to Omar Associates during the recently held auctions. Najam Sethi, the head of PCB’s executive committee, there will not be player auctions, but more than 100 players, including foreigners, will be picked through a draft. Each franchise will have a salary-spending cap of $1.2 million, including the signing of players, coaches and support staff.

A total of 16 players will be picked up from five different categories – Platinum ($190,000), Diamond ($65,000), Gold ($47,000), Silver ($28,000), & Emerging ($25,000). Each team can pick a maximum of five foreign players, and only four will be allowed to make it to the playing XI. Each of the five PSL teams will get one selection per round to pick a player, and there will be 16 rounds.

2. It’s not just another IPL:

For the people who think that PSL will be nothing more than just a copied version of the successful Indian Premier League, this is an important piece of information. The PSL, albeit being drafted on the lines of IPL, is a different tournament of its kind. The tournament features just 5 teams as against the 8 in the IPL.

IPL usually has more than 55 matches and takes a window of couple of months in the cricket season. The PSL will have just 24 matches, with each team playing the other twice. Therefore, the event will end in less than a month, making it simple. What this could possibly mean is that the international stars will feature in the entire tournament, unlike the case in IPL where players leave midway due to their international duties.

Also, the results of the matches will be fresh in the memories of spectators as against the case of IPL whereas in the long format is tiring for the players and consuming for the viewers.

3. Players and the coaches:

The players, both domestic and international, are placed in five categories- Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Emerging. Among the Pakistani players, 7 players have been named in the Platinum category: Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Irfan.

Most of the international stars have been placed in the Platinum category. The likes of Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Shane Watson, Mahela Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook are all placed in the platinum category. More international flavor is expected to be added as a host of other superstars have showed interest in the event, like Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Kevin O’Brien, Ryan ten Doeschate, Brendan Taylor, James Anderson, Shakib Al Hasan and many more.

The Coaches from all around the world have already signed up for the inaugural edition of the PSL. Eric Simons, Darren Berry, Chris Adams, Andy Moles, Gordon Greenidge, Mickey Arthur, Chaminda Vaas, Robin Singh, Dean Jones, Michael Bevan, Venkatesh Prasad, Abdul Rehman, Graham Ford, Stuart Law, Otis Gibson, Ray Jennings, Shane Jurgensen, Mohammad Akram and Sanath Jayasuriya are in the fray for coaching and mentoring roles of the 5 franchises.

4. Venues, Sponsors, Promotions, and Broadcasters:

The event was initially stated to be held at Doha, Qatar. But the PCB later confirmed that the event will take place at two venues in the UAE: Sharjah and Dubai. The Habib Bank Limited bagged the title sponsorship rights for an estimated amount of about $6 million for the PSL for a period of 3 years. The tournament will thus be called as HBL PSL.

Ten Sports and PTV Sports will be the two official broadcasters of the event. The production is being done by Sunset+Vine Production Limited. Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja have been named as the brand ambassadors for the event. Many Pakistani celebrities have shown a keen interest in the event. The official logo was launched on 20 September in Lahore where official song Ab Khel Ke Dikha (Now Show Us Your Play) was also performed by singer and actor Ali Zafar.

5. Rules and Regulations:

PSL will follow the rules and regulations given by ICC which are also followed by other cricket leagues. In the group stages, each team will be rewarded 2 points for a win and a no result will lead to sharing of one point each between the two sides. In cases of a tie, super over will decide the winner. The teams, at the end of the group stages will be ranked on the following basis:

• Most points.
• If equal, the team with more wins.
• If still equal, the team with a better net run rate.
• If still equal, the team with a lower bowling strike rate.
• If still equal, result of head to head clash.