Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 7 will start from January 27 in Karachi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Friday.
As per the press release by the PCB, the players’ draft will take place in Lahore on December 12.
The defending champions Multan Sultans will face off hosts and 2020 PSL champions Karachi Kings at the National Stadium. On the next day, the 2019 champions Quetta Gladiators will square off against the 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi.
The first 15 matches of the tournament will be played in Karachi. Whereas, the remaining 19 matches will be played in Lahore.
The qualifiers will be played on February 23, while the first and second eliminators will be played on February 24 and 25, respectively. The final of the event will be played on February 27 in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
HBL PSL Draft 2022
The PCB has decided the HBL PSL Draft 2022 will be held at the High Performance Centre in Lahore on Sunday, 12 December, with the event to kick-off at 3pm.
Each side will come to the draft with a maximum of eight player retentions from the last event. Following the finalisation of player categories, the transfer and retention window is now officially open and will close on 10 December.
In the Platinum Category, Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick, followed by Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators. Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in the Diamond Category, followed by Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United, Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans.
Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in the Gold Category, Peshawar Zalmi will have the first pick in the Silver Category, Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in Emerging Category and Quetta Gladiators will have the first pick in Supplementary Category.
Local players’ category renewals
The PCB, following a review and assessment process, has updated local players’ categories.
In the biggest moves, Pakistan wicketkeeper/batter and Multan Sultan’s captain Mohammad Rizwan (previously Silver), Asif Ali of Islamabad United (previously Gold) and Lahore Qalandars’ Haris Rauf (previously Diamond) have been placed in Platinum Category.
Multan Sultans’ Sohaib Maqsood, who was Player of HBL PSL 6, and Haider Ali of Peshawar Zalmi have moved up from Silver and Gold Categories to Diamond Category, respectively.