2024 Pakistan Super League

The 2024 Pakistan Super League (referred to as HBL PSL 9 for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the Pakistan Super League. Established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015 as a franchise Twenty20 cricket league, it was played between six teams in a double round robin and page playoff system. The season took place across four cities in Pakistan from 17 February to 18 March 2024.

Lahore Qalandars, the two times defending champions, were eliminated in the group stage with last position. In the final, Islamabad United defeated Multan Sultans by 2 wickets, becoming first team to win the third title. A Sports was the official broadcaster for the season. Babar Azam and Usama Mir respectively achieved the awards for most runs and most wickets, while Shadab Khan was entitled Player of the Tournament.

Background
As the 2024 Pakistani general election and Ramadan 1445 AH were approaching, the Pakistan Cricket Board was concerned about the tournament. While they were planning to introduce two more teams into the league, they wanted to shift the tournament to the United Arab Emirates. However, the franchise owners opposed these plans citing the financial reasons. There were proposals for the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar to host the matches but these did not succeed due to security issues. On 6 February 2024, Mohsin Raza Naqvi was elected as the PCB chairman, who also took the responsibility to supervise the preparations for the tournament.

Squads
The squads were finalized with the draft in Lahore on 13 December 2023, six days after the franchises announced their retained players. A supplementary and replacement draft took place on 29 January 2024.

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Venues
The PCB announced the venues and fixtures on 12 January 2024. The tournament took place across four cities; Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.

Match officials
On 12 February 2024, the PCB announced the list of officials for league stage matches which included 4 members of Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

Umpires

 * Abdul Moqeet
 * Ahsan Raza
 * Aleem Dar
 * Alex Wharf
 * Asif Yaqoob
 * Faisal Afridi
 * Chris Gaffaney
 * Imran Jawed
 * Michael Gough
 * Mohammad Asif
 * Nasir Hussain
 * Rashid Riaz
 * Richard Illingworth
 * Ruchira Palliyaguruge
 * Shozab Raza
 * Tariq Rasheed

Referees

 * Ali Naqvi
 * Muhammad Javed
 * Roshan Mahanama

Title anthem
The season's logo variant was revealed on 8 December 2023 with the nomenclature as HBL PSL 9, or hashtag #HBLPSL9, because HBL Pakistan has been its titular sponsor since the league's first season. The title anthem "Khul Ke Khel" features Ali Zafar and Aima Baig.

Trophy
The season's trophy, named Orion, was unveiled on 13 February 2024 at Polo Ground, Jilani Park, Lahore. It was made by Lahore-based Mahfooz Jewellers.

Broadcast and media
Since previous rights concluded after a two-year run, a public merit-based tender for the broadcast and streaming rights was opened on 9 January 2024 for the next two years. ARY Digital Network renewed the broadcast rights with a 45 percent increased bid, and Walee Technologies won the streaming rights with a 113 percent increased bid. While PCB revealed a list of global broadcasters on 16 February, this is the first season which PTV Sports would not broadcast due to not winning the tender.

Ramiz Raja returned this year among seven commentators from Pakistan, and Michael Clarke debuted among eight international commentators. Zainab Abbas and Erin Holland presented the season.

Cancer awareness
The breast cancer awareness day and the childhood cancer awareness day were observed on 5 and 12 March respectively, with the stadiums themed with the pink ribbon and golden ribbon respectively.

Format
Each team played every other team twice in a double round robin format, with the top four teams in the points table advancing to the playoffs.

Fixtures
The PCB announced the fixtures on 12 January 2024.

Most runs

 * Source: ESPNcricinfo

Most wickets

 * Source: ESPNcricinfo

End of season awards
The winner and the runner-up teams were awarded with ₨14 crore and ₨5.6 crore respectively. Babar Azam and Usama Mir were presented with the Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood caps respectively with a complete installation of 6kW solar system for each. While Shadab Khan received ₨30 lakh for being Player of the Tournament, the other awards included ₨35 lakh cash prizes.

Team of the tournament
The team of the tournament was announced soon afterwards, with Shadab Khan as the captain and Mohammad Rizwan as the 12th player.

Pro-Palestine remarks
Since KFC Pakistan was announced as a snack partner for the tournament on 17 February, people started criticizing the PCB in spite of allegations of genocide in the 2023 Israeli attack on Gaza, and hashtag #BoycottPSL became a social trending topic due to the original KFC's parent company Yum! Brands' affiliation with Pro-Israeli stances during the ongoing war. Afterwards, the spectators also complained that they were barred to carry the Pro-Palestinian banners in the stadium.

Arrests of fans
In another incident, fans were arrested for chanting slogans in support of Imran Khan during the matches. This was notable because Imran Khan, a former cricketer, former prime minister, and a prominent political leader, was in jail at that time, and referring to him was prohibited on Pakistani television and media.

DRS error
Hawk-Eye, the technology used for the Decision Review System (DRS) in cricket, made a human error during the match between Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United. Inaccurate ball tracking data resulted in incorrect results, causing frustration among players and fans alike.