The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The league was founded by the PCB in 2015, and as of 2026 features eight city-based franchise teams. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, the league operates as a single entity in which each franchise is owned and controlled by investors.
Each team plays group-stage matches in a double round-robin format, with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs, culminating in the final.
The 2026 Pakistan Super League was the eleventh season of the league. Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars are the most successful teams, with three titles each, followed by Peshawar Zalmi with two titles.
History
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. The UAE 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 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 Five to Six teams (2018) The league expanded to six franchises with the inclusion of Multan Sultans for the 2018 season. The PCB had shortlisted Faisalabad, FATA, Hyderabad, Dera Murad Jamali and Multan as candidate cities, with several political and regional stakeholders expressing interest in securing representation for their areas. Multan Sultans was announced as the new franchise on 1 June 2017, purchased by Schön Properties for US$5.2 million per year. On 10 November 2018, the PCB terminated the franchise agreement with Schön Properties, after which new owners took control and retained the Multan Sultans name.
Six to Eight teams (2026) Following the expiration of the franchise's operating agreement, the Pakistan Cricket Board auctioned the Multan Sultans franchise, which was purchased by Walee Technologies on 9 February 2026 for a bid of PKR 2.45 billion, making it the most expensive franchise sale in PSL history. After they acquisition the owners decided to relocate the franchise to Rawalpindi and rebranded it as Rawalpindiz.
PCB held an auction to sale rights of two more teams and added Sialkot Stallionz and Hyderabad Kingsmen as seventh and eighth team. Later the owners of Sialkot Stallionz sold the franchise to CD Ventures before the start of 2026 season who decided to bring back Multan Sultans as team identity and relocated the franchise from Sialkot to Multan.
Trophy From its inception, the Pakistan Super League has featured new trophy designs for most editions. The inaugural 2016 "Shooting Star" trophy was designed by Swarovski and unveiled in Dubai ahead of the first season, followed by the "Spirit Trophy" in 2017 which continued Swarovski's involvement. Similar Swarovski-made trophies were used in the 2018 and 2019 seasons before production shifted to Pakistan.
On 19 February 2020, the first domestically made trophy was unveiled by squash legend Jahangir Khan and PCB chairman Ehsan Mani at the National Stadium, Karachi. The 65-centimetre-tall, eight-kilogram design featuring a crescent and star was used from 2020 to 2022, with each champion's name engraved on its base. In 2023, a new silver-plated "Supernova" trophy, crafted by Lahore-based Mahfooz Jewellers, was introduced at the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, the first to be fully produced in Pakistan.
The 2025 trophy was called "Luminara", which was revealed on 14 March 2025 through a video on the PSL's official YouTube channel. It incorporated luminous crystal and reflective metalwork to mark a decade of PSL cricket.
The 2026 edition of the Pakistan Super League will feature a new trophy design. The trophy is named "Infinity" and was revealed in ceremony held at National Stadium, Karachi. It is handcrafted by 18 artisans who completed it in 2,600 hours. It features a crescent and a star at the top, The crescent is embedded with 1600 small crystals, There are eight emerald-cut gemstones at the base of the trophy representing the eight PSL franchises.
Profits In May 2016, the PCB announced that the inaugural season of the PSL had yielded profits of . 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:
Higher number of points If equal, better run rate If equal, highest number of wins If equal, fewest losses 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 The PSL traditionally been held between February and March each year, with the only major disruption occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. The league previously took place before the start of the Indian Premier League. The 2025 season was the last to be held in the traditional February–March slot, during which it overlapped with the IPL for the first time. However, scheduling changes announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2025 confirmed that from the 2026 season onward, the PSL would move to an April–May window to improve overseas player availability and avoid weather disruptions. 2026 Pakistan Super League will start on 26 March and will end on 3 May
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 , 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 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 .
In November 2025, following the conclusion of the original ten-year agreements, the PCB conducted a re-evaluation of franchise values through Ernst & Young. The financial model was shifted from US dollars to Pakistani Rupees for the next ten-year cycle (2026–2035). Five of the original six franchises renewed their rights under the new valuation terms, with annual fees set at for Lahore Qalandars, for Karachi Kings, for Peshawar Zalmi, for Islamabad United, and for Quetta Gladiators. In late November 2025, Multan Sultans didn't finalized their renewal agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board, resulting in the franchise being placed under PCB administration and scheduled for auction on 9 February 2026 ahead of the 2026 season.
The PCB confirmed that the PSL would expand from six to eight teams beginning with the 2026 season, following the expiry of the original franchise agreements after the 2025 edition. In November 2025 the PCB published a shortlist of six candidate cities for the two new franchises: Hyderabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad and Sialkot. On 8 January, the new teams were announced to be representing the cities Hyderabad and Sialkot, with FSK and OZ Developers winning the bid with and respectively.
Following the 9 February 2026 auction, the Multan Sultans franchise was sold to Walee Technologies for a record PKR 2.45 billion, which subsequently relocated the team to Rawalpindi and rebranded it as Rawalpindiz. However, the Sultans brand returned to the league shortly after when the newly established expansion team, the Sialkot Stallionz, faced immediate financial instability. Following the reported bankruptcy of original owners OZ Developers, Syed Mohammad Gohar Hussain Shah of CD Ventures acquired a 99% stake in the Sialkot franchise in February 2026 to stabilize the team ahead of its debut.
On 3 March 2026, the Pakistan Cricket Board officially approved Shah's request to rebrand the Sialkot entity as the Multan Sultans, citing his desire to restore South Punjab's representation in the league. The transition involved increasing the annual franchise fee from PKR 1.85 billion to PKR 2 billion, alongside a one-time US$1 million name-change fee. Under the new management, Shah introduced a Total Cricket philosophy and appointed Ashton Turner as captain to lead the rebranded team for the 2026 season.
Current teams TeamCityOwnerHome groundFoundedCaptainCoachHyderabad KingsmenHyderabadFKS GroupNiaz Stadium, Hyderabad2026Marnus LabuschagneJason GillespieIslamabad UnitedIslamabadLeonine Global SportsIslamabad Cricket Stadium, Islamabad (planned)2015Shadab KhanLuke RonchiKarachi KingsKarachiSalman IqbalNational Stadium, Karachi2015David WarnerRavi BoparaLahore QalandarsLahoreFawad RanaGaddafi Stadium, Lahore2015Shaheen AfridiRussell DomingoMultan SultansMultanCD Venture Multan Cricket Stadium2018Ashton TurnerTim PainePeshawar ZalmiPeshawarJaved AfridiImran Khan Cricket Stadium, Peshawar2015Babar AzamOttis GibsonQuetta GladiatorsQuettaNadeem OmarBugti Stadium, Quetta2015Saud ShakeelMoin KhanRawalpindizRawalpindiWalee TechnologiesRawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi2026Mohammad RizwanJustin Kemp
Franchise fees
The following table outlines the annual franchise fees as of the 2026 expansion. The total annual revenue generated for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from these fees is approximately .
+ PSL Annual Franchise Fees Franchise Fee (PKR crore) % of Total Rawalpindiz 245 27.8% Multan Sultans 200 22.7% Hyderabad Kingsmen 175 19.8% Lahore Qalandars 67 7.60% Karachi Kings 64 7.26% Peshawar Zalmi 49 5.56% Islamabad United 48 5.44% Quetta Gladiators 34 3.85% Total 882 100% Note: The table reflects final valuations only for each franchise.
Results