User:Psl final

Pakistan Super League From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pakistan Super League Pakistan Super League.png Official PSL Logo Countries	 Pakistan Administrator	PSL Governing Body, PCB Format	Twenty20 First tournament	2016 Tournament format	Double round robin and Playoffs Number of teams	5 Current champion	 Islamabad United (1st title) Most successful	 Islamabad United (1) Most runs	Pakistan Ahmed Shehzad (531) Most wickets	Pakistan Wahab Riaz (28) TV	List of Broadcasters Website	psl-t20.com 2017 Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL) (Urdu: پاکستان سپر لیگ‎) is a professional franchise Twenty20 mens cricket league. The league is headquartered in Lahore and as of 2017 consists of five franchises nominally representing cities in Pakistan. It is operated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and was established in 2016. Due to the security situation in Pakistan the first season of the league operated entirely in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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 investors. The commercial rights to the initial franchises were sold for PKR 985 Crores ($91.4 million) for a span of 10 years in December 2015.

Islamabad United were crowned champions of the inaugural season 2016, defeating Quetta Gladiators in the final on 23 February 2016.[1]

Contents [hide] 1	History 1.1	Establishment 1.2	Expansion 2	Profits 3	Format 4	Teams 5	Winners 6	Individual Awards 7	Team records 8	Team performances 9	Sponsorship 10	Broadcasting 11	See also 12	References 13	External links History[edit source] Establishment[edit source] In September 2015, the PCB 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.[2]

After several years of planning and two previous failed attempts,[3][4] the league officially began on 4 February 2016 in the UAE, after the suspension of the Haier T20 Cup, the previous T20 league in Pakistan. The first season included five teams nominally based in Pakistani cities[5][6] and players from 11 different countries.[7] Pakistanis have historically constituted the majority of the players in domestic T20 competitions, but 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.[7]

The PSL's official logo was launched on 20 September 2015 in a ceremony in Lahore, and was revealed by 3Di.[8] The ceremony was attended by current and retired cricketers, as well as Pakistani celebrities.

Prior to the 2017 Pakistan Super League players draft in October 2016, league chairman Najam Sethi announced that the league hoped to be able to hold the 2017 final in Lahore in Pakistan following the agreement of Punjab Government officials.[9][10] In the first season of the league all matches, including the final, were held in the UAE due to security reasons. Sethi claimed that the league had signed foreign players with the condition that if their team reached the final that they would have to travel to Lahore, although this claim was rebutted by agents whose clients had agreed that they would only travel to play the final in Pakistan if the security advice prior to the final was favourable and who could not be forced to travel.[10][11] An official of a PSL team said that security would need to be "extremely high" and that "cash incentives" had been offered to foreign players to agree to travel to Lahore, although no action would be taken against any player who refused to do so.[11] In August 2016 Sethi had stated that if players were not willing to travel that teams would be able to pick from a pool of foreign players from other teams who had agreed to do so and that the PCB could organise "foolproof security" for the event.[9]

Expansion[edit source] The league chairman Najam Sethi announced on 20 April 2016 that discussions had taken place with the Emirates Cricket Board to agree a "tentative" date for the 2017 Pakistan Super League in the UAE in February 2017.[12] The possibility of adding a sixth team to the league in 2017,[13] possibly in Kashmir, was also under discussion[14] but was rejected by the middle of May 2016.[15][16]

Profits[edit source] In May 2016, the PCB officially announced that the inagural season of the PSL yielded profits of $2.6 Million.[17]

Format[edit source]

PSL Playoffs The first season of the PSL was played in a double round-robin format. Every team played each other twice and the top four advanced to the playoffs.

The league follows the rules and regulations dictated by the International Cricket Council. 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:

Higher number of points If equal, higher number of wins If equal, least number of defeats If still equal, the results of head to head meetings If still equal, net run rate 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.

Teams[edit source] Pakistan Super League is located in Pakistan PeshawarPeshawar IslamabadIslamabad LahoreLahore QuettaQuetta KarachiKarachi Cities represented by PSL teams According to a PCB press release, around 20 parties showed an interest in buying franchises for the league before the first season.[18] On 18 October 2015 the Board began accepting tenders for franchises with a deadline for bids of 15 November.[19]

According to a statement by the PCB, bid winners would be granted the rights to a franchise for a term of 10 years.[20] Interested parties included the ARY Media Group, Omar Associates, Arif Habib Group, Haier, Mobilink as well as international groups including Leonine Global Sports and the Qatar Lubricants Company (QALCO).[21]

All five franchises for the first season of the league were sold on 3 December 2015 after seven bidders presented formal proposals.[22] The initial player draft took place on 21 and 22 December 2015. All five teams picked their players and the teams were finalised within the following month with a salary cap for each team.[23][24]