The Pakistan Super League is a professional Twenty20 cricket franchise league composed of five members clubs. The PSL is the major professional cricket league in Pakistan.
The 2016 Pakistan Super League or HBL PSL 2016 was the debut session of the Pakistan super league which was established by the Pakistan cricket board. The tournament featured five teams and was held from 4th February 2016 to 23rd February 2016. The opening ceremony of the tournament was held at Dubai International Cricket stadium on 4th Feb 2016.
The player draft was held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 21st December 2015. 306 Players which include Pakistan as well as International players were divided into five different teams.
The PSL follows the rules and regulation of ICC. Points in group stage were awarded as two points to winner of the match while zero points to loser and in case of no result of match. Every team played each other twice and the top four teams were “Peshawar Zalmi” “Quetta Gladiators” “Islamabad United” “Karachi Kings” were qualified for a series of playoff game while “Lahore Qalanders” failed to qualify for playoff stage. The Top two teams “Peshawar Zalmi” and “Quetta Gladiators” played the first qualifier in which “Quetta Gladiators” beat “Peshawar Zalmi” by 1 run it was a nailed biting match. The other two teams “Islamabad United” and “Karachi Kings” played an eliminator in which “Islamabad United” beat “Karachi Kings” by 9 wickets. “Peshawar Zalmi” and “Islamabad United” met in the second qualifier in which “Islamabad United” won convincingly by 50 runs.
The final match of PSL was played between “Quetta Gladiators” and “Islamabad United” on 23rd February. In which “Islamabad United” succeeded.
The player of the tournament was ‘Ravi Bopara’ of “Karachi Kings” ‘Andre Russel’ of “Islamabad United” was the leading wicket taker. ‘Umar Akmal’ was the leading run scorer of the PSL.
PSL is one of the most fascinating leagues in the history of Cricket. It had engaged thousands of cricket followers from around the globe as it was not only aired on T.V channels but was available live on YouTube and other websites, thanks to PCB and hope in future that this fascinating league of PSL may held in the stadiums of Pakistan.