PSL 7 pushed back by two weeks, likely to start on January 25 - Reports

The seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League is likely to start on January 25, 2022. The tournament was earlier scheduled for the first week of January. However, a proposal to push the tournament by two weeks has been presented to avoid its clash with the Emirates Cricket League. Also, by staging the tournament in late January, the tournament will escape weather interruption. Few other things prompted the organisers to push back the tournament, with the availability of overseas players a major factor. If the tournament would have started in the first week of January, many players wouldn’t have been available due to the Big Bash League (BBL), which will be played from December 15 to January 28.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Officer, and acting chairman Wasim Khan led a virtual meeting with franchises where they were updated about the development.

As per the original schedule, the first 17 matches of the PSL were set to be played at the National Stadium in Karachi while the remaining games, including the final, were scheduled at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The final of the tournament was expected on 14th February. With the new schedule, the final will take place in the final week of February.

PSL generally is played in February - March but the tournament was preponed to make room for the home series against Australia. If PCB would have pushed the PSL back instead of preponing it, the tournament would have clashed with IPL, which would have affected the sponsorship and broadcasting deals and the availability of overseas players.