PCB announces schedule for PSL 8

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Friday announced the complete schedule of the highly anticipated season 8 of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL)—one of the most popular and competitive cricket leagues.  

Following an opening ceremony on February 13, defending champions Lahore Qalandars will take on 2021 winners Multan Sultans— at the picturesque Multan Cricket Stadium, while the closing ceremony is set to take place on March 19 as announced earlier.   

The tournament will be held in two legs with Multan Cricket Stadium and National Bank Cricket Arena splitting matches from 13-26 February before the action shifts to the Gaddafi Stadium and Pindi Cricket Stadium where the matches will be played from 26 February to 19 March. 

This includes the Qualifier, two Eliminators and the final at the home of Pakistan cricket from 15-19 March.

Lahore Qalandars had defeated defending champions Multan Sultans at the Gaddafi Stadium by 42 runs in 2022, and will now have an additional incentive going into the eighth edition of the tournament, with the chance of becoming the first franchise to win back to back titles. 

Prior to Multan Sultans, Peshawar Zalmi were in the similar situation when they reached the 2018 final as defending champions but faltered at the last hurdle and lost to Islamabad United, who clinched their second title in three years.

Except for Peshawar Zalmi and Multan Sultans, no other side as defending champions have reached the final in the biggest, highly competitive and most grueling league in the cricket playing world.

Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi will share the 34-match tournament between them and the event schedule has been designed in such a way that the four home sides will each play five matches in front of their fans and supporters – one against each side. 

Najam Sethi, Chairman PCB Management Committee, said:  “I am delighted to formally confirm the schedule of the HBL PSL 8, which will allow the Pakistan Cricket Board and the six franchises to start firming up and finalising their respective event plans and objectives”.

PSL Squads

Islamabad United

Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Wasim Jr, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Colin Munro, Paul Stirling, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood, Hassan Nawaz, Zeeshan Zamir, Moeen Ali and Mubasir Khan.

Karachi Kings

Haider Ali, Imran Tahir, Matthew Wade, Imad Wasim, James Fuller, James Vince, Andrew Tye, Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik, Aamer Yamin, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Akhlaq, Sharjeel Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Irfan Khan Niazi, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Umar and Tabraiz Shamsi. 

Lahore Qalandars

Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Dawid Wiese, Hussain Talat, Haris Rauf, Abdullah Shafique, Liam Dawson, Sikander Raza, Ahmad Daniyal, Dilbar Hussain, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Mirza Tahir Baig, Shawaiz Irfan, Zaman Khan, Jalat Khan and Jordan Cox. 

Multan Sultans

David Miller, Josh Little, Mohammad Rizwan, Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw, Shan Masood, Akeal Hosein, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tim David, Anwar Ali, Sameen Gul, Sarwar Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Abbas Afridi, Ihsanullah, Adil Rashid and Arafat Minhas 

Peshawar Zalmi

Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa,Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem, Jimmy Neesham

Quetta Gladiators

Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Wanindu Hasaranga, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jason Roy, Odean Smith, Ahsan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Zahid, Naveen-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Umaid Asif, Will Smeed, Aimal Khan, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Martin Guptill, and Omair Bin Yousuf. 

Schedule of matches

13 Feb - Multan Sultans v Lahore Qalandars, Multan Cricket Stadium

14 Feb - Karachi Kings v Peshawar Zalmi, National Bank Cricket Arena

15 Feb - Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators, Multan Cricket Stadium

16 Feb - Karachi Kings v Islamabad United, National Bank Cricket Arena

17 Feb - Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi, Multan Cricket Stadium

18 Feb - Karachi Kings v Quetta Gladiators, National Bank Cricket Arena

19 Feb - Multan Sultans v Islamabad United, Multan Cricket Stadium; Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalandars, National Bank Cricket Arena

20 Feb - Quetta Gladiators v Peshawar Zalmi, National Bank Cricket Arena

21 Feb - Quetta Gladiators v Lahore Qalandars, National Bank Cricket Arena

22 Feb - Multan Sultans v Karachi Kings, Multan Cricket Stadium

23 Feb - Peshawar Zalmi v Islamabad United, National Bank Cricket Arena

24 Feb - Quetta Gladiators v Islamabad United, National Bank Cricket Arena

26 Feb - Karachi Kings v Multan Sultans, National Bank Cricket Arena; Lahore Qalandars v Peshawar Zalmi, Gaddafi Stadium

27 Feb - Lahore Qalandars v Islamabad United, Gaddafi Stadium

1 Mar - Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings, Pindi Cricket Stadium

2 Mar - Lahore Qalandars v Quetta Gladiators, Gaddafi Stadium

3 Mar - Islamabad United v Karachi Kings, Pindi Cricket Stadium

4 Mar - Lahore Qalandars v Multan Sultans, Gaddafi Stadium

5 Mar - Islamabad United v Quetta Gladiators, Pindi Cricket Stadium

6 Mar - Quetta Gladiators v Karachi Kings, Pindi Cricket Stadium

7 Mar - Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars, Pindi Cricket Stadium; Islamabad United v Multan Sultans, Pindi Cricket Stadium

8 Mar – Pakistan Women’s League Exhibition Match 1, Pindi Cricket Stadium; Peshawar Zalmi v Quetta Gladiators, Pindi Cricket Stadium

9 Mar - Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars, Pindi Cricket Stadium

10 Mar - Pakistan Women’s League Exhibition Match 2, Pindi Cricket Stadium; Peshawar Zalmi v Multan Sultans, Pindi Cricket Stadium

11 Mar - Pakistan Women’s League Exhibition Match 3, Pindi Cricket Stadium; Quetta Gladiators v Multan Sultans, Pindi Cricket Stadium

12 Mar - Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi, Pindi Cricket Stadium; Lahore Qalandars v Karachi Kings, Gaddafi Stadium

15 Mar - Qualifier (1 v 2), Gaddafi Stadium

16 Mar - Eliminator 1 (3 v 4), Gaddafi Stadium

17 Mar - Eliminator 2 (loser Qualifier v winner Eliminator 1), Gaddafi Stadium

19 Mar – Final, Gaddafi Stadium