“PSL Expanding: Two New Teams by 2026”

The Pakistan Super tournament (PSL), the country’s top domestic Twenty20 tournament, will switch to an eight-franchise format following its tenth season in 2025. The shift would take effect with the 11th season in 2026. In an official press statement, the Pakistan Cricket Board revealed this significant development and declared the forthcoming 2025 season—the tenth edition—to be the “last six-team event.”

The competition began in 2016 and included five teams—Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators, Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, and Lahore Qalandars—in its first two seasons (2016 and 2017). The PSL will see more teams after 10 seasons; starting with PSL 2018, the Multan Sultans will be the newest team to join.

The process for selecting which cities the new teams will represent is still in the planning stages. Regarding the 2018 Pakistan Super tournament, the PCB has five candidates on their shortlist for the sixth team.

PCB is looking into the idea of holding the PSL 2025 playoffs and championship in the UK.

The PCB intends to permanently move the PSL to April and May, perhaps from April 7 to May 20, to accommodate the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan, which falls inside the regular Pakistan Super tournament schedule. ollowing this, ESPNcricinfo reports that, should the April/May window be granted, the PCB is looking at the prospect of holding the PSL 2025 playoffs and final in the UK.

The PSL will have to compete with the IPL for media attention, sponsorship deals, television rights, and player availability as a result of this overlap.

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It is mid-May and terribly hot in Lahore. Therefore, the PCB claims that the league’s relocation to the UK will not only allay worries about the weather but also increase its global exposure by appealing to a wide range of target audiences. Additionally, it is thought that the UK is a more economically sound choice than the UAE.