Pakistan Super League

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) (also known as the HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons) is a men's Twenty20 cricket league contested by six city-based franchise teams. The league was founded in 2015 by the Pakistan Cricket Board. 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.

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

There have been nine seasons of the league. Islamabad United are the most successful team, winning the title three times. Lahore Qalandars are the only team to successfully defend its title, after winning in the 2023 season.

Establishment
In September 2015, the Pakistan Cricket Board officially announced the launch of the PSL. Former Pakistani national team captains Wasim Akram and Rameez Raja signed up to promote the PSL and become brand ambassadors of the league for three years. After several years of planning and two previous failed attempts, the league officially began on 4 February 2016 in the United Arab Emirates Sports minister  Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, inaugurated the opening ceremony. The first two seasons included five teams based on the capital cities of Pakistan's provinces and the Federal capital. 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.

The PSL's official logo was launched on 20 September 2015 in a ceremony in Lahore, 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 for US$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 to Arif Habib, and has grown significantly in the years since.

Expansion
The possibility of adding a sixth team to the league in 2017, possibly in Azad Kashmir was discussed, but rejected in May 2016. It was announced that there would be the sixth team in the next season of PSL, a few days after the end of the 2017 PSL. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra also announced that the PSL administration would be approached for the participation of a sixth team in the 2018 PSL. Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, also said to have the sixth team from Gilgit-Baltistan. The PCB short-listed five names for sixth team: Faisalabad, FATA, Hyderabad, Dera Murad Jamali and Multan.

The final name of the sixth team for PSL 2018 season was announced on 1 June 2017; Multan Sultans; owned by Schön Properties at $5.2 million annually. On 10 November 2018, PCB terminated franchise agreements with Schön Properties, resulting in a new owner being introduced. New owners decided to continue with the same name (Multan Sultans) for the franchise.

Profits
In May 2016, the PCB announced that the inaugural season of the PSL had yielded profits of US$2.6 million. In the 2022 edition, which was held entirely in Pakistan, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja reported a 71 percent increase in the PSL's profit; each franchise received in revenue before the season had started. The 2023 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.

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

The league follows the rules and regulations dictated by the International Cricket Council. However, it introduced DRS system in T20s which was later emulated by International 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, a super 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.

Schedule
PSL has taken place in February and March of each year. The only exception was the interruption due to COVID-19. The PSL has taken place prior to Indian Premier League. In 2025, the PSL and the IPL will overlap.

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

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

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 and on 1 June the rights to the Multan franchise was bought by Schön Properties for a price of US$5.2 million a year, the most expensive franchise rights in the league. 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 for US$6.35 million.


 * Notes

Results
The first season of the PSL was played entirely in the United Arab Emirates due to security reasons. The inaugural champions were Islamabad United, who defeated Quetta Gladiators in the final. Peshawar Zalmi were the 2017 PSL champions, beating Quetta Gladiators in Lahore on 5 March 2017. Islamabad United were the 2018 PSL champions, beating defending champions Peshawar Zalmi on 25 March 2018. Quetta Gladiators defeated Peshawar Zalmi to win their first title on 17 March 2019 in Karachi, in 2020 Karachi Kings took the trophy home. Multan Sultans, who won their first title defeating Peshawar Zalmi on 24 June 2021 in Abu Dhabi. Lahore Qalandars won their first title on 27 February 2022, against reigning champions Multan 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.

Team results

 * Notes
 * : Winner;
 * : Runner-up;
 * : Eliminated in the play-off stage
 * Grp: Eliminated in the group stage

Champions
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.

Trophy
On 19 February 2020, the previous version of trophy for the league was unveiled by squash player Jahangir Khan alongside then PCB chairman Ehsan Mani at National Stadium, Karachi. The 65 centimetre long trophy weighing eight kilograms has a crescent and star with multi colored strips of enamel and was used in all events from the 2020 PSL to the 2022 PSL, with every year's winning team name engraved on it.

The current version of the trophy, named Supernova, was unveiled on 9 February 2023. This trophy has been in use since the 2023 edition of PSL. The trophy was entirely made in Pakistan by Lahore-based Mahfooz Jewellers.

Individual awards
The Hanif 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. The Fazal Mahmood award and a maroon cap are awarded to the leading wicket-taker in the same way whilst the Imtiaz Ahmed award is awarded to the best wicket-keeper. All three awards were introduced in the second PSL season.

Sponsorship
The PSL's initial title sponsorship was awarded to HBL Pakistan for 3 years in December 2015. Sponsorship deals associated with the league including the title sponsorship, are estimated to be worth more than $6 million. HBL later renewed their sponsorship for three more years. In 2021, PCB announced that HBL retained the title sponsorship of the PSL for 4 more years until 2025.

Broadcasters
PSL has signed a broadcast production deal with UK–based global leaders Sunset and Vine to Produce the PSL (2016–2018) as Official Broadcasters respectively. PSL sold its TV broadcast rights for 1st, 2nd and 3rd seasons to PTV Sports HD & Ten Sports HD in Pakistan respectively. PSL sold its Digital broadcast rights to YouTube for 1st season in Pakistan respectively. PSL sold its 2nd and 3rd season Digital broadcast rights to Cricketgateway.pk in Pakistan respectively. PSL sold its 4th, 5th & 6th seasons TV and Digital broadcast rights to Blitz Advertising with a 358% increase as Official Broadcasters respectively. PSL signed its 4th season broadcast Production deal with Blitz Advertising & TransGroup. PSL signed its 5th season broadcast Production deal with Tower Sports & SportzWorkz. PTV Sports HD, Geo Super HD got TV broadcast rights for PSL (2019–2021) in Pakistan. Cricketgateway.pk got Digital broadcast rights for PSL (2019–2020) in Pakistan. PSL signed its broadcast Production deal with TransGroup International as Official Broadcasters till (2021–2025) respectively. PSL sold its 7th and 8th seasons broadcast TV and digital rights for Pakistan With a 50% increase. PTV Sports HD and ARY Consortium (A Sports HD & Ten Sports HD) will broadcast PSL (2022–2023) respectively. PSL sold its 7th and 8th seasons live streaming rights for Pakistan with a 175% increase. Daraz will live stream PSL (2022–2023) in Pakistan. PSL sold its 9th and 10th seasons broadcast TV and digital rights for Pakistan with a 45% & 113% increase. A Sports HD & Walee Technologies will broadcast PSL (2024–2025) respectively.

𝐏𝐒𝐋 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝟗𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟗𝟒𝟑 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐊𝐑.

Hamaray Heroes
The HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes campaign was introduced in the HBL PSL 2020 and received an overwhelming response as the initiative rewarded prominent Pakistanis like squash player Farhan Mehboob, founder of ACF Animal Rescue Ayesha Chundrigar, mountaineer Ali Sadpara and professional eSports player Arslan Ash. A total of 32 HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes Awards were handed out during the HBL PSL 2020. The HBL PSL 2021, like the previous year, continued recognizing Pakistanis for their achievements till the PCB has postponed the remainder of its premier T20 events aimed the global COVID-19 pandemic. Acclaimed Pakistanis rewarded during HBL PSL 2021 under the banner of HBL PSL Hamaray Heroes were footballer Kaleemullah Khan, security researcher Rafay Baloch, karate player Kulsoom Hazara, and mountaineer Mirza Ali Baig among others.

Cancer awareness
Since 2019, the league observes a day for breast cancer awareness with pink ribbon theme and a day for childhood cancer awareness with golden ribbon theme.