PCB shortlists 5 regions for Sixth franchise in PSL 2018

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has invited the interested parties to send their bids for acquiring the sixth franchise in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Currently, the T20 league is being played by five teams. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the franchise owners of the five teams, there was no provision to add the sixth team to the roster for the first two seasons.

This was the primary reason why the plans of the Pakistan Super League working committee of including the sixth team in the league this year had to be sidelined. Now, with the two editions of the tournament been completed, the board has the provision to include a new team in the league. As per the recent reports in the official site of the T20 league, psl-t20.com, the PCB has now shortlisted 5 regions that could be the sixth team in the league.

The interested parties can bid for any of these 5 shortlisted regions and the one with the highest bid shall be a part of the tournament next year. The five regions listed by the board and the PSL working committee are as follows – Hyderabad, Dera Murad Jamali, FATA (KP), Faisalabad, Multan. It is surprising to see the name of Sialkot missing from the list.

The basis on which the regions have been shortlisted was mentioned as the “provincial representation and domestic cricket ranking on merit.” In the last couple of seasons, the tournament has been a big hit. The first season was a breakout event in Pakistan cricket history. The second season was marred by the spot-fixing controversies early on in the tournament.

However, despite all the blotches of spot-fixing, the tournament managed to be a historical one as it brought cricket of some sorts of the international standard back to the Pakistani soil. PSL final was played in Lahore this year. The PSL chief Najam Sethi has also expressed his desire to schedule 8 league matches in Pakistan in the 2018 edition.