The tenth edition of the Pakistan Super League, officially referred to as PSL X, is all set to kickstart on Friday, when defending champions Islamabad United take on Lahore Qalandars at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, the cricket board said in a statement.
A glittering opening ceremony before the start of the play will mark the beginning of this historic edition. HBL PSL X is slated to run from 11 April to 18 May, with night matches starting at 8 pm PKT.
The 34-match tournament comprises three double-headers scheduled on 12 April, 1 and 10 May, while the remaining fixtures will be single headers taking place across Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi. The three afternoon games will begin at 4 pm PKT.
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The six teams will also be locking horns to take away the USD 500,000 prize money set for the winners, while the runners-up team will be awarded USD 200,000. The HBL PSL X Draft, which took place on 13 January, allowed the six franchises to refurbish their squads ahead of the historic edition.
The newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is set to play host to 13 HBL PSL X matches including Qualifier, Eliminator and the 18 May final. The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium will host 11 matches, while Multan Cricket Stadium and National Bank Stadium will witness five HBL PSL X matches each this season.
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Babar Azam, the leading run-scorer in the HBL PSL with 3,504 runs to his name, will be leading the HBL PSL 2017 winners Peshawar Zalmi. Australia’s David Warner becomes the fourth overseas player to lead the 2020 champions Karachi Kings after Ravi Bopara, Kumar Sangakkara and Eoin Morgan.
Mohammad Rizwan, who led Multan Sultans to glory in the 2021 edition in Abu Dhabi, will continue to reign as the Sultans’ skipper, having done so 48 times in the previous four HBL PSL editions. Quetta’s Saud Shakeel will take the leadership duties of the Gladiators from Rilee Rossouw.
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Shadab Khan, who has led Islamabad United in 55 HBL PSL matches so far, has been entrusted with leadership duties for HBL PSL X as well, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, the only captain to have won consecutive HBL PSL titles, will be in charge of the Lahore Qalandars.
In HBL PSL 2024, Islamabad United emerged as winners, bagging the title for the third time, while Multan Sultans ended up as runners-up for the third consecutive time.
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