Pakistan Super League (PSL) was launched mere two years ago in December 2015 and became a success story with an inaugural edition drawing appreciations from fans, cricket pundits and legendary cricketers.
In just two years of its inception, the league has become a high-flying sporting event across several fronts.
How the PSL became so successful?
After two successful editions of PSL in 2016 and 2017, PCB announced schedule for its 3rd edition starting from 22nd February 2018.
Let’s take a look on what the PSL has achieved in just two years.
The best thing happened to Pakistan Cricket after years of international cricket drought on home soil that the final of PSL Season-2 was held in Lahore with international stars in presence.
And if we go by the schedule of the third PSL, it has a valuable edition’ of another franchise named Multan Sultans. Besides other prominent highlights, the PCB announcement to let Karachi host the finale of the mega event is certainly something that everybody will watch out for. It also ultimately revives hopes of fans back home that high-profile cricketing event is here to their long-awaited excitement. Courtesy Chairman PSL Najam Sethi whose continuous efforts over last three years are now finally bearing fruits.
Another prominent aspect to PSL and Pakistan Cricket is that several international players from top teams have now started taking keen interest in the league. Before the recent drafting of players, many of the international stars consented with the PCB to become a part of PSL’s 3rd edition which is starting from 22nd February 2018.
Click here to take a look on the list of players who have signed up for PSL’s 3rd edition.
For the first time Indian Sports channel D-Sports is going to broadcast PSL’s 3rd edition. India, the arch-rival of Pakistan, has its broadcaster lending its interest in the PSL speaks volume of the league’s success.
The backgrounder
Now as we all know that digital media is growing very fast and everything is just a click away from access. Let us show you where we stand if we compare PSL with any other cricketing league in the world statistically.
There are some facts which can’t be ignored that PSL is the 2nd most followed online Cricketing League in the world in just 2 years.
There is another highlight that the PSL is the most watched cricketing league in Pakistan and other regions of the world, mainly Asia and Middle East, during its second edition as it surpassed all other genres whether its news or entertainment during the time it aired.
The fans excitement is expected to fly high if the PSL management’s move to hold event final in Karachi takes its course.
PCB hopes that it will take probably an year or two to completely shift the league from UAE to Pakistan.
Read: PSL roars to prominence in online fan following
Where other leagues stand?
IPL – INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE
The 2008 Indian Premier League season was the debut season of league. It was established by the BCCI in 2007. The season commenced on 18 April 2008 with the final match held on 1 June 2008. The competition started with a double round robin group stage, in which each of the 8 teams played a home match and an away match against every other team. These matches were followed by two semi-finals and a final.
IPL has 20.0 million following online, and understandably so. However, given the hefty budget and so much spending, the numbers of its followers still look relatively low. The event has so far had ten seasons.
CPL – CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE
The Caribbean Premier League (abbreviated to CPL or CPLT20) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the West Indies. It was created in 2013 and replaced the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier Twenty20 competition in the Caribbean.
The inaugural tournament was won by the Jamaica Tallawahs who defeated the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final. The CPL has 3.2 millions of followers on Facebook.
BBL – BIG BASH LEAGUE
The Big Bash League (BBL, also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons) is an Australian professional Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia.
The Big Bash League replaced the previous competition, the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, and features eight city-based franchises instead of the six state teams which had participated previously. Around 2.0 million users follow the league on popular social networking website Facebook.
BPL – BANGLADESH PREMIER LEAGUE
The Bangladesh Premier League is also a professional Twenty20 cricket league established in 2012 by Bangladesh Cricket Board.
The Bangladesh Premier League replaced the previous competition, National Cricket League T20, and features seven city-based franchises, instead of six division teams which had participated previously.
NATWEST T20 BLAST
The NatWest T20 Blast is a Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales run by the ECB from 2014. The league consists of the 18 first-class county teams divided into two divisions of nine teams each.
This setup, which was first announced in November 2013, replaced the Friends Life t20 competition as the main domestic Twenty20 competition in England and Wales. The league is followed by 0.63million people on Facebook.
