Cricket format Twenty20 Participants 5 Location United Arab Emirates | Defending Champions Islamabad United Start date February 2017 Administrator Pakistan Cricket Board | |
 | ||
Dates 9 February – 5 March 2017 Tournament format(s) Round-robin and playoffs Host(s) United Arab Emirates
Pakistan Similar 2016 Pakistan Super Le, 2016–17 Big Bash League s, 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, 2016–17 Bangladesh Premier L, 2016 ICC World Twenty20 | ||
The 2017 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 2 or, for sponsorship reasons, HBL PSL 2017), is the second season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2016. The tournament is currently being played in the United Arab Emirates with its final scheduled in Lahore, Pakistan. On 19th October 2016, at the 2017 player draft, the league chairman Najam Sethi announced that the final of the 2017 tournament might be played in Lahore, Pakistan depending on the security situation. The PCB confirmed that it was their intention to play the final in Lahore in January 2017 with players being flown into and out of Pakistan over a short window either side of the final. The board planned to replace overseas players who are unwilling to travel to Pakistan with their teams in a new draft held at the end of February for the final stage of the tournament, if necessary with Pakistani players.
Contents
- Opening ceremony
- Player acquisition and salaries
- Squads
- Teams
- Venues
- Promotion and media coverage
- Format
- League Stage
- Points table
- Fixtures
- Playoffs
- References
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the league was held in Dubai at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on 9 February 2017. It was hosted by actor Fahad Mustafa. Defending Champions Islamabad United marched into the stadium in traditional shalwar kameez. It featured Pakistani cultural performances; and spectacular flying drummers, followed by live performance of Jamaican pop star and singer Shaggy, then Pakistani singers Shehzad Roy and Ali Zafar performed on anthems of the league "Ballay Ballay" and "Ab Khel Jamay Ga" respectively. Over 26,000 crowd attended the colourful ceremony in the stadium. The ceremony ended with firework display.
Player acquisition and salaries
The player draft for the 2017 season was held in Dubai on 19 October 2016. 414 players, including both Pakistani and international players, were divided into five different categories. Each franchise was allowed to pick a maximum of seven foreign players in their squads which could have a maximum of 20 members. A total of 100 players, including 34 foreigners, were picked during the draft.
Squads
Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were both provisionally suspended under the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code as part of an ongoing investigation into an organisation's alleged attempts to corrupt the 2017 Pakistan Super League. Both batsmen have been sent home and no replacements have been named yet. The PCB's investigation is being backed by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit.
Teams
The 2017 season of the Pakistan Super League will feature five teams nominally representing major cities in Pakistan. The possibility of adding a sixth team to the league in 2017, possibly representing Kashmir, had been discussed but was rejected by the middle of May 2016.
The teams playing in the 2017 season will be the same five franchises which played in the 2016 season:
Venues
Dubai International Cricket Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates will be the venues used for all group stage matches in the tournament. In February 2017 PCB Chairman Najam Sethi announced that the final will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. While the other playoff matches will be held as per the schedule in Sharjah and Dubai. Tickets will be sold online for Lahore PSL Final of the second edition confirmed by the PCB official. Also a ticket booth would be setup at the Gaddafi Stadium for those who would not prefer to purchase it online.
Promotion and media coverage
The official anthem of PSL season II, "Ab Khel Jamay Ga" was released on 1 January 2017. It is written, composed and sung by Ali Zafar. Other anthem titled "Ballay Ballay" is sung by Shehzad Roy, and was released on 30 January 2017.
Format
Each team will play each other twice in the league stage of the tournament in a double round robin format. Following the group stage, the top four teams will qualify for the playoff stage of the tournament.
The 2017 season of the PSL will follow rules and regulations laid down by the International Cricket Council (ICC). In the group stage, two points will be awarded for a win, one for a no result and none for a loss. In the event of tied scores after both teams have faced their quota of overs, a super over will be used to determine the match winner. In the group stage teams will be ranked on the following criteria:
- Higher number of points
- If equal, higher number of wins
- If equal, least number of defeats
- If still equal, the results of head to head meetings
- If still equal, net run rate
If any play-off match finishes with no result, a super over will be used to determine the winner with a tied super over meaning that the team which finished higher in the league table progressing.
League Stage
The league stage of the competition will ran from 9–26 February 2017. All matches were held in the United Arab Emirates.
Points table
As of 26 February 2017Fixtures
The Pakistan Super League 2017 schedule was announced on 2 November 2016. The group stage of the tournament will be made up of 20 matches held over 18 days starting on 9 February 2017, with each team playing every other team twice. The top four teams will qualify for the playoff stage of the tournament, with the final being held on 5 March.
All times are in Pakistan Standard Time (UTC+5).
Playoffs
The playoff stage of the tournament will feature the four highest placed teams from the league stage of the competition. It will start on 28 February 2017 with the final scheduled to take place on 5 March. The winner of a qualifier match between the top two ranked teams will progress straight to the final, with the loser of that match playing the winner of an eliminator match between the third and fourth ranked teams. The final is scheduled to take be held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore if the security situation in Pakistan allows. All other playoff matches will be held in the United Arab Emirates.
On 23 February Quetta Gladiators booked the first playoff place after defeating Karachi Kings. Then Islamabad United defeated Quetta Gladiators on 24 February and they also qualified, while Peshawar Zalmi qualified by defeating Quetta Gladiators on 25 February. Karachi Kings then qualified too after victory against Islamabad United on 27 February, resulting in elimination of Lahore Qalandars from the tournament.
All times are in Pakistan Standard Time (UTC+5).