2018 to hold biggest PSL yet!
New franchise, players, venues and plans of broadcasting PSL in India.
The third season of Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to commence in February 2018. This year a new team will be making its debut; the Multan Sultans. With 6 teams this time around it is confirmed that 34 matches will take place (10 more than last year), 8 of which will be taking place in Pakistan. Venues include Sharjah, Dubai, Lahore and for the first time, Karachi. In another major development, PSL is set to be broadcast in India after the newly launched D-Sports acquired rights.
This edition will be featuring the debut of many world class players. The list will include the likes of Angelo Mathews, Imran Tahir, J.P. Duminy, Evin Lewis, Mitchell Johnson, Chris Lynn and Rashid Khan. The success of the previous seasons is apparent to the world and this season will build on its predecessors’ reputation of providing wholesome and heart pumping entertainment.
The 5 established teams exercised their right to retain a total of 10 players, 2 from platinum, 2 from diamond, 2 from gold, 3 from silver and finally 1 from the emerging category. The newly formed Multan Sultans also announced a pool of 10 players they acquired from the other teams’ releases. The remaining releases will be available in the drafts for the final squad of each team.
Many of the top players will be returning, some with their old teams while others will be playing for previous rivals. Some of the big names that will be joining new teams include Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara, Shoaib Malik and Kieron Pollard moving from Karachi Kings to the newly formed Multan Sultans. However, the biggest transfer this season is of Boom Boom Shahid Afridi from Peshawar Zalmi to Karachi Kings. The final squads for this season will be announced after the PSL drafts, which are to be held in November this year.