After discussing with the six franchises, the PCB has confirmed that the seventh edition of the PSL would be played in Pakistan within a window in January-February next year. The competition will begin in early January and go until the third week of February. Despite a scheduling conflict with the BBL in Australia, the itinerary has been set out. Both Lahore and Karachi will host 17 matches, with the final taking place at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
Since 2016, the normal PSL window has been February-March, although Pakistan is aiming to host Australia in 2022. As a result, PCB was obliged to work a window either before or after the series against Australia, and neither window was without conflict. The IPL conflicts with April-May, which has an impact on broadcasting and commercial agreements. It’ll also have an impact on player availability. The month of Ramzan will also fall within that timeframe.
The BBL is held in January and February, and a lot of top T20 players are anticipated to be in attendance. There’s also the problem of the weather in Pakistan’s Punjab region, which is foggy in the winter. To cope with the weather, the PCB has chosen to start the PSL in Karachi, Sind, in January and then move to Lahore, Punjab, in February, when conditions are more likely to be favourable.
For the last two seasons, the Covid-19 epidemic has impacted the PSL schedule, as well as the cricket calendar across the globe. The tournament’s fifth and sixth editions were split into two halves. The 2021 season began in Pakistan in February, but was postponed after 14 matches and finished in Abu Dhabi in June. The competition began on schedule in February 2020, but since the league stage was finished by March, the playoffs could not take place until November.
The PSL will have new broadcast and commercial partners for the seventh edition, since the previous agreements came to an end this year following a three-year run. The PCB has stated that it is currently developing a framework for evaluating the rights and selling them. The PCB is likely to engage an outside expert to assess the brand’s worth. The PCB had obtained a 358 percent increase in the broadcast contract, worth about USD 36 million, in the previous cycle.