PSL faces scheduling concerns for 2022 season, likely to clash with IPL

Pakistan Super League has to deal with a scheduling challenge for the 2022 season of the tournament as Pakistan is expected to host a series against Australia in a window that is often occupied by the T20 league. Ever since the start of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2016, it has always been played between February and March.  Thus, Pakistan will now have to aim to finalize some other suitable span for the league.

The current FTP was discussed for Pakistan by the previous board administration during which certain concerns about the league and its scheduling effects on Pakistan’s international season had emerged. But now considering the series against Australia, April-May could probably be the possible window for the competition. If that happens, the PSL 2022 would then clash with the Indian Premier League which is played during this period. This would widely affect the entire tournament considering the common players that play in both these high profile leagues, as per ESPNCricinfo.

Covid 19 pandemic had already posed challenges for both IPL and PSL. The PSL 2021 recently got concluded in UAE whereas the IPL 2021 is staged to resume its second phase in the months of September-October. Next year if the dates of these leagues happen to clash it would question the availability of players like Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Rashid Khan, and many other key names that feature in both these box-office tournaments.

Hurdles for Pakistan to host the PSL 2022 season

The other possible window to host the PSL is between December 25 to February 15. The board requires a total of 47 days to host the entire season but if these above dates are to be considered, it wouldn’t go well with the foreign players. This time around, the players of the top five countries would be committed to their national duties. This would thus affect their participation in the league.

Further, the Pakistan board wouldn’t be willing to take up this window to host the tournament because of the venue issues. Only Karachi would be available to host the games of the PSL as during these months of winter the weather conditions of Punjab and the other three venues in Lahore, Multan, and Rawalpindi will not be suitable for matches as there would be extreme fog conditions there. This thus leaves the board to put their thinking hats on to look for a window past the month of March.

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