Pakistan Super League’s fourth edition will commence on 14 February next year in the UAE, with the last eight games of the tournament to be played in Pakistan. The final of the league will be played in Karachi on 17 March.
The announcement was made in the meeting of Pakistan Super League Governing Council at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, presided over by Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ehsan Mani.
Earlier this year, ex-chairman PCB and PSL, Najam Sethi had vowed to hold eight to ten PSL matches in Pakistan in a bid to revive international cricket in Pakistan.
In the third edition of PSL, three matches, including two playoffs and the final, were held in Pakistan.
‘Transparency’
The newly elected Chairman PCB also promised to ensure transparency in the PCB and PSL affairs and vowed to work in partnership with all the franchises to make PSL a bigger success.
The governing council also unanimously decided that franchise representatives would be a part of bid committees for various upcoming PSL rights.
“PCB and all PSL franchises are partners in this project, and I am confident that we will all work together to bring in good numbers for our next rights cycle,” said Mani.
Random draft system
The council also agreed to continue with the draft system based on last year’s rankings in the fourth edition of PSL with the bottom-placed team having the first pick.
It was also decided that a team will be allowed a maximum of 10 retentions with the rest being released for the draft.
However, all the franchises agreed to introduce a randomised draft order from PSL 5 onwards to ensure a more equitable process for all the franchises.
The last to the first draft system has been used in the second and third edition of the PSL with Lahore Qalandars getting first picks in both the drafts having finished at the bottom in the first two editions.
With the continuation of the same process this year, Qalandars will have the first pick throughout the draft once again having finished at the bottom of the table in last season as well.
Multan Sultans, who were the latest entrants to the league last season, will have the second pick after they finished fifth on the table.