PSL to be telecast in India for the first time

For the first time in the history of Pakistan Super League (PSL), it will find a home on the TV screens in India. The third edition which will be played in February 2018 can be watched on the Discovery-owned DSport Channel, who have acquired the rights to the league. All 34 games from the PSL is scheduled to broadcast in India. The tournament is set to commence on February 23, 2018.

For the third edition, PSL has been expanded its grandeur by making the total number of teams participating six in number with Multan Sultans making their team. The other five teams include Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars.

After a considerable period of time, viewers would be able to see matches being played in Karachi as the meeting between PCB Chairman Najam Sethi and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah proved to be a fruitful one. The Sindh government has assured complete security to the players. As a result, four matches are likely to be held in the National Stadium at Karachi, which will be restored with the help of NESPAK, as reported by Geo News.

The tournament will be large-scale this time because the addition of a new team means 10 more games being added to the fixtures, making it 34 in total from the original 24. The player pool for PSL Player Draft 2017 will also consist of new signings along with players who were released during the retention window and went unpicked in the expansion draft. Multan Sultans were allowed to pick nine players in the pre-draft and as a result, meant that they could not only choose the players which the first five teams did not pick.

Some of the players who are contracted to PSL are: Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kumar Sangakkara, Mitchell Johnson, Chris Lynn, Mustafizur Rahman, JP Duminy, Rashid Khan, Mitchell McClenaghan, Luke Ronchi, Colin Munro, Jason Holder, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, James Vince, Tim Bresnan, Adil Rashid, John Hastings, Wayne Parnell, Albie Morkel, Imran Tahir and Angelo Mathews.

Among local cricketers will be superstar Shahid Afridi, former captain Misbah-Ul-Haq apart from present captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and current national players such as Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam and veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik.

Here are the Squads:

Islamabad United:

Mohammad Sami, Andre Russell, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Samuel Badree, Iftikhar Ahmed, Amad Butt, Asif Ali

Karachi Kings:

Usman Khan, Usama Mir, Khurram Manzoor, Ravi Bopara, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi

Peshawar Zalmi:

Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Shakib al Hasan, Kamran Akmal, Darren Sammy, Hasan Ali, Haris Sohail, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Asghar

Quetta Gladiators:

Sarfraz Ahmed, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Anwar Ali, Mahmudullah, Umar Amin, Mir Hamza, Asad Shafiq

Lahore Qalandars:

Umar Akmal, Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Cameron Delport, Aamer Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Khan

Multan Sultans:

Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Kumar Sangakkara, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Irfan Khan, Kashif Bhatti.