PSL, Pakistan’s own cricket league, has been a massive hit since it first took off and has only grown in terms of popularity, value and hype since then. After two successful seasons, the third edition of the Pakistan Super League, PSL 2018 is on its way, promising more of everything.
The PSL 2018 is scheduled to take place in February 2018 and is supposed to be more exciting than it ever used to be. While this cricket league provided us with nail-biting matches and amazing moments, we can expect much more this year.
What’s New?
To begin with, this would be the debut season for Multan Sultans, which is expected to add a lot more to the already-hyped competition. Multan Sultans, the latest addition in the list of teams participating in the PSL 2018, is owned by SCHON group and has already become the most expensive team. Moreover, with Wasim Akram joining the team as the Cricket Operations Director, we all know what to expect.
Also, finally something for PSL fans in India to rejoice about, the PSL 2018 would be the first season of the Pakistan Super League which will be broadcasted in India by the renowned sports channel, DSport. This move is expected to increase the viewership by a great margin.
However, the thing that excites all of us the most is the fact that a few matches of PSL 2018 will take place in Pakistan.
The empty stadiums of Karachi and Lahore would be instilled with life once again. After the PSL 2017 brought cricket back to Pakistan, we can expect more matches with local and foreign players, to be played in our homeland.
Squads
The complete squads cannot be finalized before the drafts which are expected to take place in the following month however; here are the lists of retained players for each of the teams.
| Islamabad United | Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Andre Russell, Ruman Raees, Samuel Badree, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Amad Butt, Asif Ali |
| Peshawar Zalmi | Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Darren Sammy, Shakib-al-Hassan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Asghar, Haris Sohail, Chris Jordan |
| Karachi Kings | Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Usman Khan, Usama Mir, Ravi Bopara, Mohammad Rizwan, Khurram Manzoor |
| Lahore Qalandars | Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Umer Akmal, Brendon Mccullum, Sunil Narine, Cameron Delport, Sohail Khan, Aamer Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti |
| Quetta Gladiators | Sarfaraz Ahmed, Asad Shafiq, Kevin Peterson, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Umar Amin, Anwar Ali, Mir Hamza, Mahmudullah |
| Multan Sultans | Kumar Sangakara, Kieron Pollard, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Kashif Bhatti, Irfan Khan, Junaid Khan |
Considering more teams, more matches, different venues, wider broadcasting, and more foreign players in PSL 2018 we can certainly set our hopes high.
