All about the HBL Pakistan Super League

• Pakistan Super League Teams
• Broadcasters in the UAE
• Star Players
• What to expect?
• Full Squads
• HBL PSL Schedule

For the first four seasons, the UAE was the proud host of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which was founded in Lahore on 9 September 2015 with five teams. Thanks to the amazing performances and the spectacular set up in the UAE, PSL has gone on to become one of the most lucrative T20 cricket leagues in the world attracting millions of viewers from around the world.

Expats from the subcontinent living in the UAE got to enjoy the thrilling matches of the last four editions in some of the most iconic cricket grounds in the UAE including the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Dubai International Stadium and the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The 2020 PSL tournament will not be hosted in the UAE, but those wanting to catch all the live-action need not worry as there are plenty of sports channels and websites to watch the PSL matches in Dubai and the rest of the UAE.

Bayut is proud to be the presenting sponsors for the PSL broadcasts in Dubai, which will be featured on sports channels across the country. Read on to find out more about this and more!

Match Results

Match 1: In a closely fought contest, defending champions Quetta Gladiators overcame the challenge from two-time winners Islamabad United. Played in front of a packed house, the game had plenty of ebbs and flows. Quetta’s young stars, Azam Khan and Mohammad Hasnain set up the three-win wicket win. Hasnain’s four-wicket haul restricted United to 168. Englishman Dawid Malan led the charge for the capital’s team with an aggressive 64. In the chase, Quetta were three down early. However, Azam Khan playing only his 2^nd Pakistan Super League match took the Islamabad bowling apart with a scorching 59. Ben Cutting along with some help from Sohail Khan and Abdul Nasir earned Quetta the points.

All about the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020

The fifth edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League will be played in Pakistan for the very first time. The venues for the tournament will be located across four cities – Karachi, Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore.

The PSL opening ceremony and the first match of PSL 2020 will be played on 20^th February in Karachi. Here is a look at how PSL is shaping up and what can we expect from Season Five.

Pakistan Super League Teams

Like the past two seasons, six teams will compete for the Pakistan Super League trophy. Quetta Gladiators will be working hard to defend their title under the leadership of Sarfaraz Ahmed. The following teams will participate in PSL 2020.

• Quetta Gladiators
• Islamabad United
• Peshawar Zalmi
• Karachi Kings
• Multan Sultans
• Lahore Qalandars

HBL PSL Broadcasters in the UAE

This time around rather than flocking to the stadiums, cricket fans in the UAE can enjoy the action from home. In the UAE, cricwick.com & cricketgateway.com will be streaming PSL matches live. Whereas, the TV rights deal has been signed with Etisalat/Du, for the same region.

Bear in mind that subscriptions to the sports channels may come at an additional cost. So get in touch with your broadcast service provider to know more about how you can watch PSL matches in Dubai.

Along with presenting sponsorships for PSL on Dubai’s TV channels, Bayut is also sponsoring the live streaming of the matches on Cricgateway. This is one of the most popular online portals for HBL PSL live streaming in Dubai and the rest of the UAE.

Hence, you would have plenty of ways to watch the Pakistan Super League in Dubai and the rest of the UAE. In addition to these facilities which allow you to watch the game from the comfort of your home, there are also many sports bars in Dubai which screen the PSL games live.

Star Players of HBL PSL 2020

In terms of international talent, fans will witness global T20 superstars like Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Colin Munro, Shane Watson, Moeen Ali, Colin Ingram, Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw, Mitchell McClenaghan, Luke Ronchi, Carlos Brathwaite, Kieron Pollard, James Vince, Dawid Malan and Tom Banton.

As for the local heroes, the evergreen Shahid Afridi will represent Multan Sultans. Fans would be thrilled to see the young pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Musa Khan and Haris Rauf in action.

The relatively old guard in Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan, Hasan Ali, and Faheem Ashraf will also try to show the national selectors and fans that experience still matters.

Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Zahid Mahmood, Usman Qadir and Zafar Gohar will fly the flag high for spinners.

On the batting front, the modern-day great, Babar Azam would be looking forward to churning out the runs in front of the home crowd. Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Fakhar Zaman, Asif Ali, Imam ul Haq, Akmal brothers will look to post mammoth scores for their teams.

Hence it is no surprise that PSL tickets have been selling like hot cakes across all four cities. In case you are travelling to watch the matches or plan to buy PSL tickets for a friend in Pakistan, time is of the essence. Visit the PSL official website to find out more details.

Off-field Activities

Since the launch of PSL in the UAE in 2015, the opening ceremony has always been an event to cherish with amazing performances. Expect more of the same this year. The official song is out so it is likely that popular Pakistani musicians Ali Azmat, Arif Lohar, Haroon Rashid and Asim Azhar will perform their heart out in front of adoring fans. Usually, a global star also features in the lineup. However, the final announcement will be made in a few days.

Cricket lovers from the UAE who visit Pakistan to watch some matches can expect a festival-like atmosphere outside the stadiums. Many local brands have joined hands with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the PSL franchises to create a new eco-system and reward the fans.

What to Expect on the Field?

For starters, you can expect a lot of exciting cricket. The brand of cricket might be slightly different from what we are used to seeing in Pakistan Super League. Given the change in venue for PSL from UAE to Pakistan, data and expert analysis indicate that the 2020 PSL games may have high scoring matches.

The captain of Quetta Gladiators, Sarfaraz Ahmed will be looking to hold on to their winning streak, while Peshawar Zalmi’s inspirational leader Darren Sammy and the team would want to clinch the title to honour him. The other teams in PSL – Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars have underperformed so far in the league and will be looking forward to changing their fortunes.

So expect to see some closely contested matches in a highly charged atmosphere and a highly condensed PSL points table till the very end.

Pakistan Super League Match Officials

The umpires and match referee list for PSL include some familiar names. On-field umpiring duties will be performed by Richard Illingworth, Michael Gough, Aleem Dar, Shozab Raza, Ranmore Martinesz, Ahsan Raza, Faisal Khan Afridi, Asif Yaqoob, Tariq Rasheed and Rashid Riaz.

Roshan Mahanama, Javed Malik, Mohammad Anees and Aziz-ur-Rehman will be supervising the PSL matches as match referees.

Full Squads

Quetta Gladiators (Full Squad)

• Sarfaraz Ahmed (Captain)
• Shane Watson
• Mohammad Nawaz
• Ahmed Shehzad
• Mohammad Hasnain
• Tymal Mills
• Ahsan Ali
• Abdul Nasir
• Azam Khan
• Umar Akmal
• Naseem Shah
• Ben Cutting
• Jason Roy
• Sohail Khan
• Arish Ali Khan
• Fawad Ahmed
• Khurram Manzoor
• Keemo Paul (from March 7), & Zahid Mehmood (until March 7).

Multan Sultans (Full Squad)

• Shan Masood (Captain)
• Shahid Afridi
• James Vince
• Khushdil Shah
• Moeen Ali
• Mohammad Irfan
• Junaid Khan
• Sohail Tanvir
• Mohammad Ilyas
• Rohail Nazir
• Imran Tahir
• Ali Shafiq
• Rilee Rossouw
• Ravi Bopara
• Zeeshan Ashraf
• Usman Qadir
• Bilawal Bhatti
• Wayne Madsen (until March 7) & Fabian Allen (from March 7).

Islamabad United (Full Squad)

• Shadab Khan (Captain)
• Hussain Talat
• Amad Butt
• Faheem Ashraf
• Asif Ali
• Luke Ronchi
• Musa Khan
• Rizwan Hussain
• Dale Steyn
• Colin Ingram
• Colin Munro
• Zafar Gohar
• Akif Javed
• Rumman Raees
• Phil Salt
• Ahmed Safi Abdullah
• Saif Badar
• Dawid Malan

Peshawar Zalmi (Full Squad)

• Darren Sammy (Captain)
• Imam-ul-Haq
• Umar Amin
• Tom Banton
• Hasan Ali
• Wahab Riaz
• Kamran Akmal
• Adil Amin
• Amir Khan
• Shoaib Malik
• Liam Dawson
• Haider Ali Khan
• Mohammad Mohsin
• Rahat Ali
• Lewis Gregory
• Aamir Ali
• Liam Livingstone
• Carlos Brathwaite (until March 7) & Kieron Pollard (from March 7).

Karachi Kings (Full Squad)

• Imad Wasim (Captain)
• Babar Azam
• Sharjeel Khan
• Aamir Yamin
• Usama Mir
• Mohammad Amir
• Iftikhar Ahmed
• Umer Khan
• Alex Hales
• Chris Jordan
• Cameron Delport
• Mohammad Rizwan
• Umaid Asif
• Ali Khan
• Arshad Iqbal
• Awais Zia
• Mitch McClenaghan
• Chadwick Walton

Lahore Qalandars (Full Squad)

• Sohail Akhtar (Captain)
• Shaheen Shah Afridi
• Chris Lynn
• Ben Dunk
• Farzan Raja
• Fakhar Zaman
• Mohammad Hafeez
• Samit Patel
• Seekkuge Prasanna
• David Wiese
• Usman Shinwari
• Dilbar Hussain
• Haris Rauf
• Salman Butt
• Jaahid Ali
• Mohammad Faizan
• Dane Vilas

HBL PSL 2020 Schedule

This wraps up our preview of the Pakistan Super League, Season 5. It promises to be a season of extravagant drama filled with powerful batting, fiery bowling and extraordinary fielding. UAE residents made the recent T10 Cricket League a tremendous success. With the HBL PSL 2020, they again have a chance to watch some enthralling cricket.

Those who can’t travel to Pakistan from the UAE can enjoy matches at home. Many also opted to watch PSL in the sports bars in Abu Dhabi. It all depends on how you want to watch cricket. Either in the solitude of your home or with a group of likeminded enthusiasts.

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