About PSL
Pakistan Super League is also known as PSL in Pakistan. It is the most famous and most viewed domestic professional cricket league in Pakistan. Similar to the other professional domestic cricket tournaments, PSL is also a twenty20 cricket tournament held annually in the country. However, this tournament is not that famous as compared to the other domestic professional cricket tournaments held in the world out there like Indian Premier League (IPL). But still, this tournament is among one of the ICC Future Tours Programme list. PSL has given an exclusive window in ICC Future Tours Schedule. Because many international cricketers around the world participate in Pakistan Super League along with the national players of Pakistan. From viewership to revenue, PSL is always at the top of the list of cricket tournaments held in Pakistan. This tournament is a good source of income for many Pakistani players in a similar way Indian players are earning through Indian Premier League (IPL).
Foundation, Format & Teams
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is the founder of Pakistan Super League. This tournament was announced in 2015 and in the next year, it was officially launched. In February 2016 it was played for the first time. Most of the players playing in this team are Pakistani players along with other popular international players. Pakistani popular cricketers Wasim Akram and Rameez Raja were the first two cricketers who were appointed as the brand ambassadors of this tournament. They continued as brand ambassadors for the next three years. The format of this tournament is similar to the other professional twenty20 cricket tournaments. This tournament was played in double round-robin and playoffs mode format. Six teams were participating in this tournament and all of them were representing six different cities, provinces and states of Pakistan.
Sponsors
HBL Pakistan or Habib Bank Limited was the initial sponsor for this tournament. HBL is one of the top multinational banks in Pakistan. Initially, HBL was awarded the title sponsorship for the tournament for the first three years and the total sponsorship amount earned was $5 million. Again after the end of three years sponsorship contract, HBL Pakistan was again awarded the same sponsorship for the next three years. But for the second term, the amount of sponsorship was around $14.3 million which was almost thrice the initial amount offered.
Prize Pool & Revenue
Prize pool of Pakistan Super League always increases every year. If we talk about the commercial rights of Pakistan Super League, then they were sold for $93 million for a long period of ten years. Pakistan super league was valued at around $300 million in 2017. The prize pool is divided into winning teams, runner ups and individual awards. In 2020, Pakistan Super League was offering around $1 million which is not too much if compared with the top professional domestic cricket tournaments of the world. Half of this prize money which is around $500k was offered to the winning team and the runner up team will be given $200k. The rest of the amount will be distributed among the individual awards like a man of the match and man of the tournament.
Top Teams & Players
The current champion or the titleholder of this tournament is Karachi Kings. Karachi Kings won this tournament for the first time in history. But Karachi Kings is not the most successful team in Pakistan Super League. Because it has won the champion title for the first time. On the other side, Islamabad United won this title two times, which makes it the most successful team in the Pakistan Super League. If we have a look at the top players of this tournament then Kamran Akmal is the top-scoring batsman of the tournament, he scored 1537 runs and on the other side, Wahab Riaz has taken 76 wickets in this tournament.
Venues & Broadcasting
As it is managed and controlled by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), all the venues are international or national cricket stadiums of Pakistan. However, the city representing teams have their home grounds also. But all the matches are held within the boundaries of Pakistan. If we talk about broadcasting rights then it is broadcasted in Asia along with some other countries outside Asia. In Pakistan, broadcasting rights are given to PTV Sports, Geo Super, Ten Sports, etc. There are different broadcasting partners for different countries of the world.
Controversies
In 2017, the Pakistan Super League came to light when there was a discussion going on to add a new team to the tournament. The proposed seventh team or participant of this tournament was Azad Kashmir. But later on, many disputes occurred due to this discussion and this proposal was rejected by the management of the tournament.
