Pakistan Super League
The Pakistan Super League, also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league currently features six city-based franchise teams. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, the league is a single entity in which each franchise is owned and controlled by the investors.
Each team plays the group-stage matches in a double round-robin format and the top four teams with the most points qualify for the playoffs, culminating in the final.
As of 2025, there have been ten seasons of the league. Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars are the most successful teams, both winning three titles each.
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
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.Ahead of the 2026 season, the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the league would expand from six to eight teams, Six candidate cities were shortlisted for the new franchises: Hyderabad, Sialkot, Muzaffarabad, Faisalabad, Gilgit and Rawalpindi, with Sialkot and Hyderabad being awarded the new places.
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
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 MayTeams
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. 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. As of late November 2025, Multan Sultans had not yet finalized a renewal agreement.
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.
;Notes
Results
The first season of the PSL was played entirely in the United Arab Emirates due to security reasons. The inaugural champions were Islamabad United, who defeated Quetta Gladiators in the final. Peshawar Zalmi were the 2017 PSL champions, beating Quetta Gladiators in Lahore on 5 March 2017. Islamabad United were the 2018 PSL champions, beating defending champions Peshawar Zalmi on 25 March 2018. Quetta Gladiators defeated Peshawar Zalmi to win their first title on 17 March 2019 in Karachi, in 2020 Karachi Kings took the trophy home. Multan Sultans, who won their first title defeating Peshawar Zalmi on 24 June 2021 in Abu Dhabi. Lahore Qalandars won their first title on 27 February 2022, against reigning champions Multan Sultan. Lahore Qalandars again defeated Multan Sultans with a minor margin of 1 run to win their consecutive 2nd title of the tournament in its 8th edition on 18 March 2023. Islamabad United became first team to win three title on 18 March 2024 when they defeated Multan Sultans by 2 wickets. It was Multan's fourth consecutive final and third consecutive runner up finish. Lahore Qalandars also won their third title by defeating Quetta Gladiators by 6 wickets in 25 May 2025. Shaheen Afridi is most successful captain of the League.Final results
Team results
; Key:- : Winner;
- : Runner-up;
- PO: Eliminated in the play-off stage
- Grp: Eliminated in the group stage
Champions
| Team | Title | Runner-up | Seasons won | Seasons runner-up |
| Islamabad United | 3 | – | 2016, 2018, 2024 | – |
| Lahore Qalandars | 3 | 1 | 2022, 2023, 2025 | 2020 |
| Multan Sultans | 1 | 3 | 2021 | 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Peshawar Zalmi | 1 | 3 | 2017 | 2018, 2019, 2021 |
| Quetta Gladiators | 1 | 3 | 2019 | 2016, 2017, 2025 |
| Karachi Kings | 1 | – | 2020 | – |
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 most recent design, the "Luminara", 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.