Ahead of the upcoming PSL, Pakistan Cricket Board has made a huge announcement that the Pakistan Super League will shift to a player auction system from its 11th season moving away from the draft format that has been used since the league began in 2016. The change follows a model similar to the IPL, SA20 and ILT20. The total purse for each PSL franchise has also been raised to USD 1.6 million from USD 1.3 million for the player auction. The move to shift from draft to auction is part of the larger reforms announced by PCB for competitive balance and greater earning opportunities for players. Most PSL franchise owners were in favour of auction as it gives them a better chance compared to draft. The players will also gain big as the top tier players may earn plenty with this new system where the total purse of the franchise has been increased to USD 1.6 million.
The chairman of PSL broke out this news officially today “The PSL will now transition from a draft to players auction system which should increase transparency and enhance the competitive balance of teams in the league,” PSL CEO Salman Naseer said.
As per the press release by PCB, the upcoming PSL is going to have a new players acquisition system. Under the new rules each franchise may retain a maximum of four players and it will be limited to one player per category. This is a big change as in the past every franchise were allowed to retain 8 players from their squad including a right to match option to retain a 9th player in the Player Draft. Now as per the new rules the right to match option has been abolished going forward.
The current rules would also allow two new teams from Sialkot and Hyderbad to select and retain four players from the available player pool before the Auction. Each franchise will also be allowed one direct signing of a foreign player who did not feature in the last season of PSL (PSL 10) which enables teams to strategically strengthen their squads with new international players. The PSL 11 is scheduled to begin from March 26.
