The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to get underway on April 11, 2025, with Islamabad United facing Lahore Qalandars at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The T20 league will directly clash with the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) for the first time in history. The PSL was usually played in February-March to avoid any clash with the IPL; however, this year, the board had no option to postpone the tournament to April-May due to the ICC Champions Trophy.

PSL stand nowhere near to IPL in terms of popularity, and the global vieweship will take a dip for sure. To minimise the damage, the PCB made a big move and decided to start the matches at 8 PM PST, one hour after the start of the IPL matches. This could make a big difference in the viewership, and the PSL will get at least an hour where they would avoid a direct clash with an IPL match.

"It is not an ideal situation, but we are confident that the PSL has its own fan base and will attract the usual eyeballs," PSL SEO Salman Naseer said.

"The PSL has always produced quality competitive cricket and this year also we should see the same, and cricket fans anywhere, at the end of the day, just want to see competitive, entertaining matches," he said.

Salman also said that PSL is now a decade-old tournament, and they have made their best efforts to enhance the quality of the broadcast. The PSL CEO also highlighted the advantage of hosting the PSL in the same window as the IPL, saying that the franchises were able to sign big overseas stars who went unsold in the IPL 2025 auction.

Naseer also revealed that he got inquires from two franchises to add new teams to PSL, confirming that PSL will be an eight-team event from the next year.

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