Historic shift to Player Auction Model signals a new era for the Pakistan Super League

[Ball Blazer]

The HBL Pakistan Super League has announced a series of landmark developments ahead of its 11th edition, reinforcing the League’s continued growth, competitiveness, and commitment to innovation.

In a historic move after a decade of success, the HBL Pakistan Super League (HBL PSL 11) will transition to a Player Auction Model, replacing the traditional Player Draft system. This strategic shift is aimed at enhancing competitive balance, increasing transparency, and providing players’ greater earning opportunities.

Under the revised player acquisition framework:

- Each franchise may retain a maximum of four players, limited to one player per category. Previously, every franchise was allowed to retain 8 players from their squad including a Mentor, a Brand Ambassador and a Right to Match Option to retain a 9th player in the Player Draft.

- The rules pertaining to Mentors, Brand Ambassadors and RTM have been abolished for HBL PSL 11.

- Newly inducted teams will be allowed to select and retain four players from the available player pool before the Player Auction.

- Each franchise will also be allowed one direct signing of a foreign player who did not feature in HBL PSL X, enabling teams to strategically strengthen their squads with fresh international talent.

- Further strengthening the League’s commercial and competitive outlook, the player salary purse has been increased to USD 1.6 million per franchise, underscoring HBL PSL’s commitment to rewarding player performance and attracting elite domestic and international cricketers.

These progressive measures reflect the League’s strategic trajectory and evolution, while remaining firmly rooted in its mission to promote cricketing excellence, fan engagement, and attaining unprecedented heights.

HBL PSL 11 will officially commence on 26 March 2026. Faisalabad has been added an additional venue for hosting the League’s matches, marking the city’s return to spotlight and further expanding the League’s national footprint.

Additional details regarding the Player Auction process, schedule, and operational guidelines will be shared in due course.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Budget went from $1.2M to $1.6M which is not a huge jump but still okay. It effectively means that extra $400K increase will go to a direct signing of star overseas players for teams. Players who perhaps were not part of PSL in recent years.

 

[RidiculousMan]

I'm hearing that players will be retained not on their previous category brackets but rather on new categories, decided by their respective teams.

What this means is that Lahore can retain Haris in platinum, Fakhar in Diamond, Sikander in Gold and Shaheen in Silver.

 

[Savak]

Budget went from $1.2M to $1.6M which is not a huge jump but still okay. It effectively means that extra $400K increase will go to a direct signing of star overseas players for teams. Players who perhaps were not part of PSL in recent years.

PCB can help the franchises by pooling in some extra money in the event they end of negotiating with top tier A level T20 players like Maxwell, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook etc

 

[RidiculousMan]

PCB can help the franchises by pooling in some extra money in the event they end of negotiating with top tier A level T20 players like Maxwell, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook etc

That's what the $400K increase is I believe. But yes, they could've added extra money

 

[cricfan432]

I'm hearing that players will be retained not on their previous category brackets but rather on new categories, decided by their respective teams.

What this means is that Lahore can retain Haris in platinum, Fakhar in Diamond, Sikander in Gold and Shaheen in Silver.

Whats the purpose of retaining in categories, if they're going for auction? or is it drauction?

 

[RidiculousMan]

Whats the purpose of retaining in categories, if they're going for auction? or is it drauction?

It allows old franchises to pay a fixed amount of money to their old players.

For instance every old franchise will pay $200,000 for only one of their player and $100,00 for another and so on.

IPL I believe does similar when it comes to retention. But they don't name it categories.

 

[Rana]

$1.6m purse

This is crap

 

[cricketjoshila]

It allows old franchises to pay a fixed amount of money to their old players.

For instance every old franchise will pay $200,000 for only one of their player and $100,00 for another and so on.

IPL I believe does similar when it comes to retention. But they don't name it categories.

Yes

That way a recent new performer can’t be retained on a cheap salary

 

[Katwalindian]

$1.6m purse

This is crap

How much you wanted?

 

[Savak]

Reports that the vast majority of the Pakistani players are not happy about the auction system, they know full well that their will not be any major bidding wars for the majority of them, they will most likely be paid less than foreign players and may not even be paid less in comparison to the previous draft system

 

[Varun]

Reports that the vast majority of the Pakistani players are not happy about the auction system, they know full well that their will not be any major bidding wars for the majority of them, they will most likely be paid less than foreign players and may not even be paid less in comparison to the previous draft system

They don't like capitalism and the free market, they should immigrate to the Soviet Union and play cricket there instead. Oh wait.

 

[Katwalindian]

I'm hearing that players will be retained not on their previous category brackets but rather on new categories, decided by their respective teams.

What this means is that Lahore can retain Haris in platinum, Fakhar in Diamond, Sikander in Gold and Shaheen in Silver.

Rizwan is at best silver category player, fakhar gold, haris rauf silver, babar gold

 

[Hyder]

So players will have a say in which category they are being retained or there will be some under the table payments to keep the purse at maximum and still retain good players

 

[Hyder]

Nevertheless i dont see teams picking good players even in draft often. Multan and quetta often made very bad choices. I d love to see young guns like ali raza, maaz, sameer, nafay go in bidding war.
Heck even usman tariq or sufyan or abrar should attract teams

Purse should ve been around 1.8 to 2 because this inc means most of it ll go to star player signing

And lets see what base price players set

 

[Katwalindian]

Nevertheless i dont see teams picking good players even in draft often. Multan and quetta often made very bad choices. I d love to see young guns like ali raza, maaz, sameer, nafay go in bidding war.
Heck even usman tariq or sufyan or abrar should attract teams

Purse should ve been around 1.8 to 2 because this inc means most of it ll go to star player signing

And lets see what base price players set

I think star player will signed through direct signings....

 

[RidiculousMan]

So players will have a say in which category they are being retained or there will be some under the table payments to keep the purse at maximum and still retain good players

They should have a say. Or else they should opt for Auction.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Purse should ve been around 1.8 to 2 because this inc means most of it ll go to star player signing

Yea. This means less money for some locals and more for some others.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

The auction system does not suit Pakistan and this was not the right time to make this change. The draft system was working okay and it allowed owners to pay players more money under the table. Here the purse size is not really that significant and now you risk alienating your local players too.

 

[ezy9]

How does the auction work with Salary Cap? Let's say there is a bidding war on player X, the price goes to 1.6M, how do they fill the rest of the roster?

 

[Katwalindian]

The auction system does not suit Pakistan and this was not the right time to make this change. The draft system was working okay and it allowed owners to pay players more money under the table. Here the purse size is not really that significant and now you risk alienating your local players too.

SA 20 I doing it in 2 million dollars, bpl in 600,000...so why it's not possible for PSL?

 

[Katwalindian]

How does the auction work with Salary Cap? Let's say there is a bidding war on player X, the price goes to 1.6M, how do they fill the rest of the roster?

From their own pockets

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

SA 20 I doing it in 2 million dollars, bpl in 600,000...so why it's not possible for PSL?

SA20 has cash-rich IPL owners. And 2 mil is far more than 1.6 mil.

BPL franchises on the other hand are notoriously shady with a horrible track-record of not paying their players.

 

[Da_Future_Knick]

Categories will be decided by the PCB and not the team. Should be interesting

 

[RidiculousMan]

The auction system does not suit Pakistan and this was not the right time to make this change. The draft system was working okay and it allowed owners to pay players more money under the table. Here the purse size is not really that significant and now you risk alienating your local players too.

Auction is good for players in he long term. It incentivizes talent to perform well and get high price without relying all on PR and PCB set categories.

If a player is set on a category with a base price of $50,000 then in the Auction the player has a chance of fetching more money than base price. Which he wouldn't have gotten in the Drafts. In the coming seasons the budget is likely to increase.

 

[Katwalindian]

SA20 has cash-rich IPL owners. And 2 mil is far more than 1.6 mil.

BPL franchises on the other hand are notoriously shady with a horrible track-record of not paying their players.

That's the point...they have cash rich ipl owners...without them can they even afford 1.6?

 

[Savak]

Auction is the way to go. It forces the Franchise officials to work harder and actually use their brains on the picks. Its good for the viewers, it brings excitement, anticipation and drives traffic. The PCB has opted for the players auction after seeing the goodwill, traffic the franchise auction generated and how the PSL became reinvigorated as a result. After a long time the PSL is a daily talking point on social media and tv.

Also local players (especially senior star players like Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Shadab e.t.c) have to now justify their pay, if you want to be paid an elite salary, your present form, performances has to justify it, no more getting a guaranteed platinum pay just because of your seniority and your close relationship with the franchise owners, if you want to get Maxwell, Warner type pay then prove your worth via your recent performances. Local emerging players like Sameer Minhas, Maaz Sadaqat, Ali Raza will also get a chance to earn a very good paycheque which would not have been possible under the draft system, they would have been stuck with borderline emerging player pay.

Yes the overall purse is low, the PCB should invest $3-4 million of their own funds and help the franchises to increase the salary cap up to $2 million. The first 5 franchises have been rewarded for their long term loyalty vis a vis substantially low franchise fees in comparison to Multan Sultans, Hyderabad and Sialkot, in return the PCB should demand them to increase the salary cap up to $2 - $2.5 million atleast to take the league forward.

 

[Katwalindian]

Auction is the way to go. It forces the Franchise officials to work harder and actually use their brains on the picks. Its good for the viewers, it brings excitement, anticipation and drives traffic. The PCB has opted for the players auction after seeing the goodwill, traffic the franchise auction generated and how the PSL became reinvigorated as a result. After a long time the PSL is a daily talking point on social media and tv.

Also local players (especially senior star players like Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Shadab e.t.c) have to now justify their pay, if you want to be paid an elite salary, your present form, performances has to justify it, no more getting a guaranteed platinum pay just because of your seniority and your close relationship with the franchise owners, if you want to get Maxwell, Warner type pay then prove your worth via your recent performances. Local emerging players like Sameer Minhas, Maaz Sadaqat, Ali Raza will also get a chance to earn a very good paycheque which would not have been possible under the draft system, they would have been stuck with borderline emerging player pay.

Yes the overall purse is low, the PCB should invest $3-4 million of their own funds and help the franchises to increase the salary cap up to $2 million. The first 5 franchises have been rewarded for their long term loyalty vis a vis substantially low franchise fees in comparison to Multan Sultans, Hyderabad and Sialkot, in return the PCB should demand them to increase the salary cap up to $2 - $2.5 million atleast to take the league forward.

Draft model was bogus.....shoaib malik getting 70k while guys like khawaja nafay and ali raza getting 7.5k...... now shoaib malik will most probably go unsold and rest of them will get their market rate....

 

[shah9425]

Auction was needed

Good decision

 

[shamaan]

Should be 2.0m per Franchise.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Looks to be excellent changes from what I am seeing.

Only 4 retentions and one per category is key and should make for a pretty good pool available for new teams to have competitive rosters.
Glad RTM nonsense is gone. Too often teams just tried to retain and keep the player they know and made for a predictable draft sometimes.

More money to spend too and hopefully that attracts some bigger names. Overall, really positive changes based on my initial outlook.

 

[sweep_shot]

I think it is a good change.

All the best.

 

[Savak]

Am reading on x that the direct signing amounts will be seperate from the team purse and the PCB, Franchises will both contribute to the gigantic amounts paid for direct signings. This will mean the remaining $1.6 million purse can be utilized strictly for the remaining non direct signing players.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Fine... it was always on cards... PCB took a bold step and I think it should be fine... New franchises can sign 4 players directly to make it fair for them... Good

 

[RidiculousMan]

Am reading on x that the direct signing amounts will be seperate from the team purse and the PCB, Franchises will both contribute to the gigantic amounts paid for direct signings. This will mean the remaining $1.6 million purse can be utilized strictly for the remaining non direct signing players.

Until yesterday night I was under the impression that DS amount is included in the purse.

If that has changed today then I'm not aware.

It will be incredible if that's the case. Would effectively make it a $2M purse if we include DS player cost.

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

Looks to be excellent changes from what I am seeing.

Only 4 retentions and one per category is key and should make for a pretty good pool available for new teams to have competitive rosters.
Glad RTM nonsense is gone. Too often teams just tried to retain and keep the player they know and made for a predictable draft sometimes.

More money to spend too and hopefully that attracts some bigger names. Overall, really positive changes based on my initial outlook.

Very good in theory. As I understand it, the PCB will choose the player categories before retentions are done. This bit has to be done correctly and on merit, so that the original six franchises don’t game the system.

So, if the PCB do something egregious, like say putting Mo Haris as a Gold pick, Saim as a platinum pick, it’ll allow existing Peshawar to retain their best players, thus defeating the purpose of the lower no. Of retentions.

I do like the auction model, in that players will get paid what they’re worth. It’ll actually encourage players to develop their games to get paid more.

 

[Katwalindian]

Until yesterday night I was under the impression that DS amount is included in the purse.

If that has changed today then I'm not aware.

It will be incredible if that's the case. Would effectively make it a $2M purse if we include DS player cost.

I think direct signing is not compulsory and if any franchise want they can do it...

 

[ataullah]

Until yesterday night I was under the impression that DS amount is included in the purse.

If that has changed today then I'm not aware.

It will be incredible if that's the case. Would effectively make it a $2M purse if we include DS player cost.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Very good in theory. As I understand it, the PCB will choose the player categories before retentions are done. This bit has to be done correctly and on merit, so that the original six franchises don’t game the system.

So, if the PCB do something egregious, like say putting Mo Haris as a Gold pick, Saim as a platinum pick, it’ll allow existing Peshawar to retain their best players, thus defeating the purpose of the lower no. Of retentions.

I do like the auction model, in that players will get paid what they’re worth. It’ll actually encourage players to develop their games to get paid more.

I'd think PCB would any franchises to succeed as much as possible early on so I can't imagine they will try to make players categories that are too unfavourable to the new teams.

Lahore will likely be forced to select between Shaheen/Rauf/Fakhar (Shaheen likely) and Quetta may have Abrar/Faheem/Amir all as platinum picks. At minimum Peshawar will have Babar & Saim as platinum picks. I know who I would chose but who knows if Peshawar will keep Babar around for the brand value. IU will likely have Naseem/Shadab/Nawaz as platinum picks and I would think Shadab is likely the pick.

There should be plenty of talent for new teams to pick from. Really looking forward to PSL this season.