Pakistan Super League

Pakistan Super League I PSL I Pakistan T20 League

Pakistan Super League Introduction

It won’t be a mistake to call Pakistan Super League the most popular T20 cricket league in Pakistan. And you would be surprised to know that the league started just recently (in 2016 to be exact). Two legendary Pakistani cricketers Rameez Raza and Wasim Akram promoted the league initially.

An initial couple of seasons had only five teams. The league unlike the IPL makes use of the draft system instead of player auctions. Its market value was more than three hundred million US dollars in 2017 and is growing continuously with every passing year. The sixth team of the league was added in 2016 in the form of Multan Sultans.

Fun fact: Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag is also known as the Sultan of Multan.

Pakistan Super League

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Format of Pakistan Super League

The PSL follows a double round-robin tournament format which means that each team gets to face the other twice in the league phase before the play-offs are played to decide on the finalists. Hence, 30 matches are played before the playoffs. We would like to explain the calculations as well.

Number of teams 6
Teams which they are going to face individually 5
Hence, the total number of matches (without playoffs and final) 6*5 = 30

Note: If PSL were to be a just a round-robin tournament, then we would have to divide this result by two since we would want to avoid repeated matches against the same team.

Notable Players

Some of the notable PSL players are as follows.

Player Name Team
Mohammed Amir Karachi Kings
Wahab Riaz Peshawar Zalmi
Hasan Ali Peshawar Zalmi
Shahid Afridi Multan Sultans
Darren Sammy Peshawar Zalmi
Kieron Pollard Peshawar Zalmi
Asif Ali Islamabad United
Babar Azam Karachi Kings
Jason Roy Quetta Gladiators
Shane Watson Quetta Gladiators

Winners of Pakistan Super League (2016-2020)

In this table, we would be discussing the winners of the various editions of the PSL (Pakistan Premier League).

Season Winner Performance of winning team in the particular season
2020 Karachi Kings They won 5 matches and lost 4 in the league matches and were 2nd on the points table. They defeated Multan Sultans in the playoff match and made it to the finals. There they decimated Lahore Qalandars and became champions for the first time.
2019 Quetta Gladiators The finished second on the points table in the league matches with 3 losses and 7 wins. The beat the Peshawar Zalmi in playoffs and the went on to defeat them again in the finals. This was their first title.
2018 Islamabad United They secured the first position in the matches before the playoffs and they routed Karachi Kings in the playoffs to make it to the finals where they faced Peshawar Zalmi only to win over them to win the PSL title for the record second time.
2017 Peshawar Zalmi Their excellent performance in the league stage made them the undisputed leader in the points table. The did get beaten in the first league match by Quetta Gladiators but made a comeback by beating Karachi Kings in the eliminator where they had to face Quetta Gladiators again. This time they beat them in style and secured their first title.
2016 Islamabad United Their performance in the league stage wasn’t that great as they has finished third with 4 wins and 4 losses. They defeated Karachi Kings in playoffs along with Peshawar Zalmi to reach the finals where they came face to face with Quetta Gladiators and beat them to become the champions of the inaugural season.

Pakistan Super League Records (2016-2020)

Record Record Holder
Most matches played by a player Kamran Akmal
Most matches while leading as captain Sarfraz Ahmed
Maximum number of ducks Kamran Akmal
Biggest ever partnership Liam Livingstone and Babar Azam
Most centuries Kamran Akmal
Most catches Mohammed Nawaz
Most runs given by a bowler in an inning Shahid Afridi
The best economy rate of a bowler Sunil Narine
Best Bowling performance in a match Ravi Bopara
Highest wickets taken by a bowler in a season Hasan Ali
Most wickets taken in the league Wahab Riaz
Highest strike rate Chris Lynn
Fastest 50 Asif Ali & Kamran Akmal
Fastest 100 Rilee Rossouw
Maximum number of 6’s in a given inning Ben Dunk
Most sixes in PSL Shane Watson
Highest score by a batsman Collin Ingram
Maximum number of runs Kamran Akmal
Lowest Team total Lahore Qalandars
Highest Team total Islamabad United

Do you know about any more records which we might have missed which are related to the PSL? Then do consider dropping them in the comments section and we will include them once we verify them.

Owners of PSL teams

Team Name Owner
Quetta Gladiators Omar Associates
Peshawar Zalmi Javed Afridi
Multan Sultans Alamgir K Tareen & Ali K Tareen
Lahore Qalandars Qatar Lubricants Co.
Karachi Kings ARY Group
Islamabad United Leonine Global Sports

All of these owners are private entities and most of them are businesses or CEOs of businesses. New teams might be added in later seasons as per the choice of the PCB.

Controversies related to PSL

PSL like any other cricket T20 league has had its fair share of controversies. We would like to shed some light on a few of them.

  • In match fight between Ahmed Shehzad and Wahab Riaz

They clashed with each other in a match between their respective teams in the 2016 edition of the Pakistan Premier League. The action was taken against them by the PCB and both were fined heavily for their disorderly conduct.

  • Many Pakistani cricketing legends weren’t invited to the opening ceremony

This was perhaps the most painful thing which these ex-Pakistani cricketers might have witnessed in their lifetime. They were the ones who did the most for the sport while representing their country and they were sidelined for whatever reasons.

  • Players backing out of playing in Lahore

In the 2017 final of the league which was held in Lahore, many foreign cricketers backed out of the game since they were concerned about their security. Imran Khan was reportedly unhappy about this and even stated about the same.

  • Spot-fixing scandal

Half a dozen players were banned by the Pakistani board for fixing matches in 2017. This was a blot on the tournament as a whole. The case was of sot fixing which is mostly done in T20 cricket.

So, these were some of the controversies which surrounded the PSL since it started. Hopefully, players will try their best to not get into things which can be avoided. Although, their decisions regarding their safety have to be respected by the PSL fans.

Future of PSL

The future of PSL looks bright as cricket is a popular sport in Pakistan since it was once a part of the British empire. Hopefully, the Pakistani cricket team will get hold of some young talent to which PSL is indeed a great platform. Although, some old players which are well-known will be retiring soon.

As for now, fans are looking forward to PSL 2021.

Performance of teams in league matches which have won PSL in different Seasons

This is important to understand to see their performance in the league matches. You can also see how teams which finished first in the league stage weren’t able to win the league in the particular season.

Season

Karachi Kings

Quetta Gladiators

Peshawar Zalmi

Islamabad United

2020 2 5 4 6
2019 4 2 1 3
2018 2 4 3 1
2017 3 2 1 4
2016 4 2 1 3

 

 

 

 

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