Women’s PSL: Inaugural edition to have four teams

The first edition of the Women’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) will take place in late March next year, with four clubs and 16 to 20 elite overseas players expected to compete, according to The News.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has approved the launch of a four-team PSL for Women, which will be the first of its kind in the country, according to a reliable source.

“There is good news for Pakistan cricket fans especially for the women as the PCB has decided to go ahead with the start of the inaugural Pakistan Super League for Women next year. Four teams will compete in this inaugural edition on the basis of the single league format,” a source within the Board said.

“The interesting part is that every team will be allowed to include four to five foreign players for the first edition, meaning 16 to 20 foreign players are expected to compete in the inaugural league. Besides that, the best of locals will be seen in action that could well be organised with the last part of the PSL 2023,” the source added.

The PCB is considering two dates for the initial season of the women’s league, the first of which is in late March 2023, in conjunction with the PSL.

“The 2023 PSL is expected to start from late February 2023 and will run till late March. One option available for the PCB is to organise the inaugural edition of the women’s league with the last part of PSL. Seven matches will be played in the first edition that could well be played parallel with the last seven matches of the PSL — meaning the day would start with the women’s league match followed by the men’s PSL match late in the evening. It is believed that such a format will add extra spice in the league and would help in introducing the women’s format to the general public,” the source said.

The ICC employed the similar format for the women’s T20I World Cup from 2012 to 2016, thus it’s likely to be a success. From 2016 onwards, the ICC separated the Women’s World Cup from the men’s edition once it became popular.

Moreover, the PCB also believes that it would help in saving extra expenditures. “By organising the inaugural edition with the men’s event, the PCB expects to save a huge amount that otherwise would have to be spent on broadcasting and marketing of the event. On one hand it will help in instantly introducing the women league and on the other it would help save extra expenditure,” the source said.

The second window opens in May 2023, when the New Zealand side visits Pakistan for five ODIs and as many T20Is, with the League possibly taking place during that tour.

One advantage of the May window, according to a source, is that the majority of top international women’s players will be readily accessible for the League.

However, according to the source, the weather in May tends to be extremely hot, which should be taken into account.

In the women’s PSL, all four teams will be required to field two players under the age of 19.

“Once all the details are finalised we would be in a position to name teams. The inaugural women franchise team names however will be different from the one we have for PSL and for the Junior League. What we want is to make the women’s league a real brand and for that we will have to use the best available options to make an immediate impression,” the source added.