Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the owners of all eight franchises of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) have considered the proposal to hold the tournament in January next year.
According to a report by cricket website Cricinfo, issues related to the next edition of the PSL were discussed in a meeting of the PSL Governing Council held in London.
According to the report, the council proposed to shift the PSL to January due to concerns about limited advertising revenue during April and May.
Franchise owners have expressed concern that no matter when the tournament is held, will they get their full share of the broadcast revenue? Questions are being raised on advertising revenue, especially since the revenue from TV rights is not as expected.
Under the current PSL agreement, all franchises get 95 percent of the broadcast revenue generated from the central revenue pool.
The first nine editions of the PSL were played in February and March. However, the tournament was shifted to April-May for the last two seasons due to the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025 and the T20 World Cup this year. As a result, the PSL was played simultaneously with the Indian Premier League (IPL).
According to Cricinfo, one of the advantages of holding the PSL with the IPL was that foreign players were constantly available, as availability of players had been an issue in the past due to clashes with other T20 leagues around the world.
However, the return to the January-February window could resurface this issue as the PSL may find it difficult to acquire foreign players during this period, along with South Africa’s SA20 and Australia’s Big Bash League.
According to the report, holding the PSL in January could also pose administrative and weather problems for the PCB, as January and February are considered the harshest winter months in Punjab.
Three of the four traditional PSL venues, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi, are located in Punjab, where temperatures usually drop to single digits after sunset in the months of January and February, while heavy fog can also pose difficulties in travel and match arrangements.
There is also a suggestion that the tournament should start in Karachi, where winters are relatively mild, and then be shifted to Punjab and Peshawar as the tournament progresses, as the severity of the weather is likely to decrease by then.
Pakistan currently has a clear international cricket window from mid-November to March, during which there are no home or away series scheduled.
The national team will host Sri Lanka and England in October and November, followed by a two-Test series against New Zealand in March. This will be Pakistan’s final Test assignment in the current World Test Championship cycle.