The 2017 Pakistan Super League, also known as PSL 2 and branded as HBL PSL 2017, was the second edition of the Pakistan Super League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). On 19 October 2016, at the 2017 player draft, league chairman Najam Sethi announced that the final of the 2017 tournament might be played in Lahore, Pakistan, depending on the security situation there. The PCB confirmed it was their intention to play the final in Lahore in January 2017 with players being flown into and out of Pakistan during a short window either side of the final. The Umpire Decision Review System (DRS) was used in play-off matches. The defending champions Islamabad United were eliminated in the first Eliminator. The 2017 PSL was broadcast in more than 10 territories. According to Najam Sethi, ratings were higher than the previous season.
The final was held in Lahore on 5 March and saw Peshawar Zalmi defeating Quetta Gladiators by 58 runs to win the championship. Darren Sammy of Peshawar Zalmi was awarded the man of the match award. Kamran Akmal, also of Peshawar Zalmi, was named the player of the tournament for scoring the highest aggregate of runs in PSL 2017.
The tournament also witnessed a spot-fixing controversy. As a result of this, four players were banned for differing periods of time.
Background Before the 2017 Pakistan Super League players draft in October 2016, league chairman Najam Sethi announced that the league hoped to hold the 2017 final in Lahore, Pakistan, with the agreement of Punjab Government officials. In the league's first season, all matches, including the final, were held in the UAE for security reasons. Sethi claimed the league had signed foreign players on the condition that if their team reached the final, they would have to travel to Lahore. Agents rebutted this claim saying their clients had agreed that they would only travel to play the final in Pakistan if the security advice prior to the final was favourable. They could not be forced to travel there. A PSL team official said security would need to be "extremely high", adding 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. In August 2016, Sethi had stated that if players were unwilling to travel that teams could pick from a pool of foreign players from other teams who had agreed to do so, and that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could organise "foolproof security" for the event.
Ceremonies
Opening ceremony The league's opening ceremony, hosted by actor Fahad Mustafa, was held in Dubai at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on 9 February 2017. Defending Champions Islamabad United marched into the stadium in traditional shalwar kameez. The ceremony featured Pakistani cultural performances; and spectacular flying drummers, followed by a live performance of the Jamaican pop star and singer Shaggy. Pakistani singers Shehzad Roy and Ali Zafar performed the league's anthems "Ballay Ballay" and "Ab Khel Jamay Ga" respectively. Over 26,000 people attended the ceremony in the stadium, which ended with a fireworks display.
Closing ceremony The closing ceremony was held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Ayesha Omar and Ahmad Ali Butt hosted the event which featured live performances by Pakistani singers Ali Zafar, Faakhir Mehmood, Overload and Ali Azmat. A sold-out crowd of spectators enjoyed the closing ceremony. Before the ceremony, Najam Sethi claimed that viewership was higher than in the previous season.
Player acquisition and salaries
The player draft for the 2017 season was held in Dubai on 19 October 2016.Abdul Majid Lahore to host PSL 2017 final as teams pick final squads , The Express Tribune, 19 October 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.Watson, Haddin snapped up in PSL draft , Cricket Australia, 20 October 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016. 414 players—both Pakistani and international—were divided into five different categories. Each franchise could pick a maximum of seven foreign players for their squads, which could have a maximum of 20 members. 100 players, including 34 foreigners, were picked during the draft.All you need to know about PSL 2017 draft , Geo News, 19 October 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
Squads
Islamabad United, The News Tribe, 20 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.Peshawar ZalmiLahore QalandarsKarachi KingsQuetta Gladiators Misbah-ul-Haq (c) Asif Ali Shadab Khan Ben Duckett Zohaib Khan Dwayne Smith Steven Finn Sam Billings (wk) Brad Haddin (wk) Nicholas Pooran (wk) Saeed Ajmal Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Sami Samuel Badree Rumman Raees Amad Butt Imran Khalid Rafatullah Mohmand Darren Sammy (c) Alex Hales Dawid Malan Haris Sohail Hasan Ali Iftikhar Ahmed Imran Khan Chris Jordan Junaid Khan Kamran Akmal (wk) Khushdil Shah Mohammad Asghar Mohammad Hafeez Eoin Morgan Samit Patel Marlon Samuels Shahid Afridi Shakib Al Hasan Sohaib Maqsood Tamim Iqbal Wahab Riaz Irfan Khan Brendon McCullum (c) Azhar Ali Jason Roy James Franklin Cameron Delport Grant Elliott Fakhar Zaman Bilawal Bhatti Usman Qadir Ghulam Mudassar Saif Badar Mohammad Rizwan (wk) Umar Akmal Sunil Narine Chris Green Sohail Tanvir Aamer Yamin Zafar Gohar Yasir Shah Mohammad Irfan Kumar Sangakkara (c)(wk) Shoaib Malik Chris Gayle Babar Azam Shahzaib Hasan Khurram Manzoor Kashif Bhatti Kieron Pollard Ryan McLaren Imad Wasim Ravi Bopara Mahela Jayawardene Saifullah Bangash (wk) Sohail Khan Mohammad Amir Usman Khan Rahat Ali Usama Mir Abrar Ahmed Abdul Ameer Hasan Mohsin Ammad Alam Sarfraz Ahmed (c)(wk) Ahmed Shehzad Kevin Pietersen Asad Shafiq Rilee Rossouw Saad Nasim Mohammad Nawaz Anwar Ali Luke Wright Mahmudullah Mohammad Nabi Bismillah Khan (wk) Mir Hamza Zulfiqar Babar Umar Gul Thisara Perera Tymal Mills Nathan McCullum Umar Amin Noor Ali Zadran Hasan Khan Anamul Haque Rayad Emrit Elton Chigumbura Morne van Wyk Sean Ervine Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were both provisionally suspended under the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code as part of an ongoing investigation into an organisation's alleged attempts to corrupt the 2017 Pakistan Super League. Both batsmen had been sent home, and no replacements were named. The ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit backed the PCB's investigation.
Teams The 2017 season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) featured five teams nominally representing major cities in Pakistan.PSL's second edition to remain five-team event , The Express Tribune, 18 May 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016. The possibility of adding a sixth team to the league in 2017, perhaps representing Kashmir,Muneeb Farrukh PSL to include a sixth team for the second edition , Ary Sports, 21 April 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.Muneeb Farrukh Najam Sethi dreams about including Kashmir in PSL , Ary Sports, 23 April 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016. had been discussed but was rejected by the middle of May 2016.
The teams playing in the 2017 season were the same five franchises which played in the 2016 season: Islamabad United Karachi Kings Lahore Qalandars Peshawar Zalmi Quetta Gladiators
Venues The Dubai International Cricket Stadium and the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates were the venues used for all group stage matches in the tournament. In February 2017, PCB chairman Najam Sethi announced that the final would be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, while the other playoff matches were held as scheduled in Sharjah and Dubai. Tickets were sold online for the Lahore PSL final, confirmed by a PCB official. A ticket booth was set up at the Gaddafi Stadium for those who did not wish to purchase tickets online.
On 19 October 2016, at the 2017 player draft, Najam Sethi announced that the final of the 2017 tournament might be played in Lahore, Pakistan, depending on the security situation there. The PCB confirmed that it was their intention to play the final in Lahore in January 2017 with players being flown into and out of Pakistan over a short window either side of the final. The board planned to replace overseas players who were unwilling to travel to Pakistan with their teams in a new draft to be held at the end of February for the final stage of the tournament, if necessary with Pakistani players.
Subsequently, the final was held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
United Arab EmiratesPakistan Dubai Sharjah LahoreDubai International Cricket StadiumSharjah Cricket Association StadiumGaddafi StadiumCapacity: 30,000Capacity: 15,000Capacity: 27,000
Promotion and media coverage
The official anthem of PSL season II, "Ab Khel Jamay Ga" was released on 1 January 2017. It was written, composed and sung by Ali Zafar. Another anthem titled "Ballay Ballay", sung by Shehzad Roy, was released on 30 January 2017.
Format
Each team played every other team twice in the league stage of the tournament in a double round robin format. Following the group stage, the top four teams qualified for the playoff stage of the tournament.
The 2017 season of the PSL followed rules and regulations laid down by the International Cricket Council (ICC). In the group stage, two points were awarded for a win, one for a no result and none for a loss. In the event of tied scores after both teams had faced their quota of overs, a super over would be used to determine the match winner. In the group stage teams would be ranked on the following criteria:
Higher number of points If equal, higher number of wins If equal, fewest defeats If still equal, the results of head-to-head meetings If still equal, net run rate
If any play-off match finished with no result, a super over would be used to determine the winner. A tied super over or rain meant the team that finished higher in the league table progressed.
Points table Top 4 teams qualified for the playoffs Advanced to Qualifier Advanced to Eliminator 1
Notes: C = Champions; R = Runner-up; (x) = Position at the end of the tournament;
Spot-fixing controversy
A spot fixing scandal took place during the competition. Sharjeel Khan allegedly received 2 million Pakistani rupees to play two dot balls against Peshawar Zalmi. On 30 August 2017 Sharjeel was banned for a period of 5 years. While Khalid Latif was allegedly given bat grips by bookies to indicate that he would spot-fix. He was also accused of convincing three other players to participate in the fixing. Both were given bans of 5 years, while four other players Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Nawaz, Nasir Jamshed and Shahzaib Hasan were given bans of 1 year, 2 months, 1 year, and 1 year respectively.
League stage The league stage of the competition ran from 9 February–5 March 2017.PSL to kick-off from Feb 9, final to be played in Lahore on March 7 , The Express Tribune, 2 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016. All matches were held in the United Arab Emirates.
Summary
Week 1