“A normal season of the Pakistan Super League,” as the variation of one of the most recognizable memes on social media might say. “That’s all I ask. It will never happen.”
This should have finally been that year. After a window change from late winter, where other leagues suddenly began to displace the PSL, to a direct clash with the IPL that proved a modest success last year, the league began to feel comfortable enough with itself to expand. Two new faces were added and record prices were reached. A long-running dispute between the ownership of Multan Sultans and the PCB finally came to a head when the Sultans were also auctioned to new owners for a record price. New places added. Suddenly, the league was showing enormous financial growth, raising considerable foreign investment. All this occurred amid a political culture in the PCB that may not have been free or vibrant, but it was predictable and stable – the perfect combination as far as investors with long-term interests were concerned.
For the PSL, however, normality itself is a harbinger of something sinister. The four to eight weeks during which the PSL takes place, with almost cursed regularity, are the time when events, both regional and global, have fallen with overwhelming force on the league, even if as a mere byproduct. Everything from an unstable security situation in Pakistan in the early years, geopolitical tensions with India, spot-fixing scandals and a global pandemic have derailed PSL seasons in the past. Once again, it is an event, in the form of the West Asian crisis, occurring outside Pakistan’s borders and well beyond its ability to control, that has wreaked havoc on the PSL.
PCB president Mohsin Naqvi announced the tournament would be played in empty stadiums, in a depressing reminder of the Covid years. The venues were reduced to Lahore and Karachi and the opening ceremony was cancelled. The PCB has agreed to compensate franchise owners for money out of their own pockets, with a vague hope that crowds will get involved at some point should the crisis in West Asia end, although in reality there is general pessimism about crowds this year.
The image of an empty PSL will be an inevitable thread defining this year’s edition, even if there are reasons to look forward to this year’s tournament. The addition of two new teams expands the league to a size commensurate with its global stature as one of the best T20 leagues. The reduction in the number of retained players allowed has mixed up squads and infused new unpredictability, effectively giving each side a reset button.
Especially with eight new ten-year contracts to take the PSL until 2036. It remains to be seen whether the league can maintain its value to justify the large sums that the three new owners have invested, particularly because, even with the lower 2016 valuations that five franchises have renewed, it is not at all clear that any owner has made a profit. Team ownership remains a prestige purchase rather than a legitimate money-making business venture, but the PSL will be aware that its cachet of glamor is not infinite. A warning shot came when one of the owners appeared to back out of a sale weeks after purchasing one of the new teams, and Sialkot Stallionz disappeared before it even began.
Last year proved that the clash with the IPL need not be a death knell for foreign participation, simply because there are plenty of T20 cricketers to go around. Even though the IPL is hoovering up top-notch talent, three of the eight captains in the PSL this year will be foreigners. The league is home to some of the biggest names in T20 cricket who may not be in the prime of their careers but are still big draws with high ceilings.
Glenn Maxwell’s indifferent recent form in the IPL makes him arguably the biggest name in this year’s PSL, where he lines up for Hyderabad Kingsmen, while David Warner reprises the captain’s role with Karachi Kings. Steven Smith’s arrival at Lahore airport had some of the trappings of a furtive state visit from a foreign dignitary, where he plays for Multan Sultans under the leadership of compatriot Ashton Turner, who has led Perth Scorchers to three BBL titles. No matter what changes come to Pakistan cricket, the reverence for Australian talent remains an unwavering constant; This year there are 16 Australians in the PSL, three of them captains.
In a world where everything must be ranked, from Ronaldo and Messi to Alcaraz and Sinner, comparing the PSL to the IPL simply because they cohabit this part of the calendar is to spectacularly miss the point. The PCB has made no secret of its aspirations to make the PSL one of the most influential leagues, a goal it has achieved despite battling instability, chaos and, at times, outright incompetence.
It has become a cultural touchstone of the spring cricket calendar and was instrumental in international cricket ultimately returning to Pakistan after its wild years in the United Arab Emirates. It is now a financial lifeline for the PCB, with income from sponsorship and broadcast rights among the largest contributors to the PCB’s financial fund, a funding source essentially obtained out of thin air for a decade. They lost Blessing Muzarabani and Dasun Shanaka when the IPL came calling, but the PSL’s importance to Pakistan stems regardless of who may be richer or more powerful.
However, normality remains elusive. But there is some evidence that cricket and spectacle could make up for it.