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The PSL celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. While there is much to say about the league at large, it's important to examine the structure on which the PSL is built: the draft.
An auction isn't just about creating entertainment value (although watching franchises actually compete for players would be far more compelling than the current pick-order ritual). It is a better system, one that values players based on what they're actually worth.
The current draft requires that each team must have at least one local Platinum, one local Diamond, and at least three overseas players in the first three categories. These requirements are rigid and force teams to pick potentially lower-valued players at high prices simply to meet quotas. Local Platinum players are so scarce that teams hoard them, with only eight to ten genuine Platinum-tier Pakistani players for six franchises.
The result? Teams burning wildcards on Diamond and Gold players just to fill quotas, paying $130,000 for a player who is not actually worth that much, but teams are obligated to sign because the draft rules say so, while emerging players teams are dying for get paid $7,500.
https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003458502086533120
In the Platinum round, Quetta Gladiators used their Wildcard on Faheem Ashraf, who was in the Gold Category.
PSL 10 had two of the top-performing batters from the Emerging category: Hassan Nawaz and Muhammad Naeem. And arguably, Peshawar and Multan's best fast bowlers, Ali Raza and Ubaid Shah, were both emerging as well. These players aren't squad fillers; they are match-winners locked into predetermined salary bands that have nothing to do with their actual value.
In 2023, Ihsanullah was earning Emerging category wages while terrorising batters. Abbas Afridi was the highest wicket-taker in the same tournament. Saim Ayub was wildcarded from the Emerging category by Peshawar (wildcarding emerging players was later disallowed for some reason) and is now a Platinum player on reportedly over $200,000.
This season, someone like Sameer Minhas will likely be picked in the Emerging category for $7,500, even though he could realistically outperform Silver ($25,000) and Gold ($50,000) category players. An auction would allow players like Minhas to earn what the market says he's worth. Teams would bid, and a player's value would be determined by demand, not by a category decided months before a ball is even bowled.
https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003454758418624513
Haider Ali was promoted to Platinum ahead of PSL 8 despite averaging 17.25 in T20s over the previous two years. He managed a meagre 109 runs in the tournament and went unpicked in the following year's draft. He was selected in Silver the following year.
And the system for deciding categories keeps changing. In some years, it was the PCB's selection committee that decided; once it was the Chairman. More recently, franchise representatives vote on player categories for other teams.
Let's think about it. Teams voting on the value of players they don't own. There's an obvious conflict of interest. Why would any franchise vote to make a rival's player cheaper?
An example of the outcomes of such meetings: Ahead of PSL 10, Usama Mir was voted into the Platinum category, even though he wasn't a part of the national team. Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan's frontline Test and T20 spinner, was placed in Diamond. Completely backwards and illogical.
https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003455904658939904
After the tournament, PSL management informed us that the tournament had been given full international status. That meant every player who participated was now automatically Gold.
The rule being that any player who has represented Pakistan must be slotted in Gold at minimum. An absurd rule that led to most of those players being released because franchises have such limited Gold slots available and teams have to choose between them young players and established national team players.
The rule states that a player can be designated as a "mentor" if they are of a certain stature and have retired from international cricket. The key benefit is that a mentor can be relegated by one category from their original slot, keeping the same salary. Teams now use this loophole to retain top players in lower categories.
A recent controversy was when Imad Wasim retired from international cricket just before Islamabad announced their retentions, allowing them to keep him as a mentor at a lower category. Then took back his retirement after the tournament.Similarly, Kieron Pollard was retained by Karachi in Gold despite reportedly being paid over $230,000, the maximum of the Platinum category.
https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003456053216968715
The rule was meant for elder statesmen to pass on wisdom. Instead, it's a category manipulation tool that rewards certain franchises for gaming the system rather than building squads based on player value.
In the IPL 2026 auction, Cameron Green went for Rs 25.20 crore ($3 million) and Matheesha Pathirana for Rs 18 crore ($2.1 million). But those numbers are not relevant here because they apply only to a handful of players.
The salaries of most IPL players are comparable to those of top earners in most leagues, including the PSL.
David Miller, one of the most destructive finishers in T20 cricket, went for $235,000. Ben Duckett, one of the best opening batters in the world, sold for the same. So did Finn Allen, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Anrich Nortje. Quinton de Kock, a World Cup winner, went for just $120,000.
The PSL pays its top Platinum players between $170,000 to $220,000. David Warner was the exception at $300,000. The gap isn't as dramatic as people think. The difference is that the PSL locks players into predetermined categories while the IPL lets the market decide.
After five seasons of drafts, The Hundred is also moving to an auction in March 2026. Teams get a salary cap of $2.6 million. They're introducing multi-year contracts and flexible salaries based on bidding rather than fixed bands. Even the SA20 has moved to an auction this year. Leagues worldwide recognise the benefit of values set by fair market competition, not an arbitrarily decided category.
It creates competitive balance through financial constraints, not arbitrary pick orders. Every team gets the same purse. Spend wisely or don't. But the opportunity is equal.
It gives emerging players a real shot at fair compensation. A 19-year-old bowling 145kph shouldn't be earning the same $7,500 as every other name in his category just because that's where the draft slotted him.
The PSL currently has a draft budget of $1.4 million per team. That's already workable for an auction, especially since most available players have no competing franchise tournament during the PSL window. Players won't have particularly high demands.
Salary caps of other top leagues:
The PSL has the players and the budget. Now, a decade since its start, it just needs the will.
Source: Ali Khan Tareen on X
The Current Draft
Ten years of any running system requires revisiting. The PSL draft is no different. The current draft worked well when the league needed structure and parity. But after a decade of wildcard gymnastics, category inconsistencies and a system that misrepresents player value, it's time to move on. The PSL needs an auction.An auction isn't just about creating entertainment value (although watching franchises actually compete for players would be far more compelling than the current pick-order ritual). It is a better system, one that values players based on what they're actually worth.
The current draft requires that each team must have at least one local Platinum, one local Diamond, and at least three overseas players in the first three categories. These requirements are rigid and force teams to pick potentially lower-valued players at high prices simply to meet quotas. Local Platinum players are so scarce that teams hoard them, with only eight to ten genuine Platinum-tier Pakistani players for six franchises.
The result? Teams burning wildcards on Diamond and Gold players just to fill quotas, paying $130,000 for a player who is not actually worth that much, but teams are obligated to sign because the draft rules say so, while emerging players teams are dying for get paid $7,500.
https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003458502086533120
In the Platinum round, Quetta Gladiators used their Wildcard on Faheem Ashraf, who was in the Gold Category.
Emerging Players
The Emerging Player rule was designed to encourage development and has quickly become one of the most decisive factors in the tournament, with the emerging player capable of making or breaking the season. Originally, the emerging player was expected to be the weakest player in the XI, but that hasn't been the case for years.PSL 10 had two of the top-performing batters from the Emerging category: Hassan Nawaz and Muhammad Naeem. And arguably, Peshawar and Multan's best fast bowlers, Ali Raza and Ubaid Shah, were both emerging as well. These players aren't squad fillers; they are match-winners locked into predetermined salary bands that have nothing to do with their actual value.
In 2023, Ihsanullah was earning Emerging category wages while terrorising batters. Abbas Afridi was the highest wicket-taker in the same tournament. Saim Ayub was wildcarded from the Emerging category by Peshawar (wildcarding emerging players was later disallowed for some reason) and is now a Platinum player on reportedly over $200,000.
This season, someone like Sameer Minhas will likely be picked in the Emerging category for $7,500, even though he could realistically outperform Silver ($25,000) and Gold ($50,000) category players. An auction would allow players like Minhas to earn what the market says he's worth. Teams would bid, and a player's value would be determined by demand, not by a category decided months before a ball is even bowled.
https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003454758418624513
Category Inconsistencies
The category system is not only inconsistent but riddled with examples of players being placed in the wrong tier.Haider Ali was promoted to Platinum ahead of PSL 8 despite averaging 17.25 in T20s over the previous two years. He managed a meagre 109 runs in the tournament and went unpicked in the following year's draft. He was selected in Silver the following year.
And the system for deciding categories keeps changing. In some years, it was the PCB's selection committee that decided; once it was the Chairman. More recently, franchise representatives vote on player categories for other teams.
Let's think about it. Teams voting on the value of players they don't own. There's an obvious conflict of interest. Why would any franchise vote to make a rival's player cheaper?
An example of the outcomes of such meetings: Ahead of PSL 10, Usama Mir was voted into the Platinum category, even though he wasn't a part of the national team. Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan's frontline Test and T20 spinner, was placed in Diamond. Completely backwards and illogical.
Category Rigidity
In 2023, Pakistan sent a young squad of mostly uncapped players to the ‘Asian Games’. Players like Arafat Minhas, Omair bin Yousaf, Rohail Nazir, and captain Qasim Akram. All had played PSL and were likely to be retained by their franchises in Silver or Emerging.https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003455904658939904
After the tournament, PSL management informed us that the tournament had been given full international status. That meant every player who participated was now automatically Gold.
The rule being that any player who has represented Pakistan must be slotted in Gold at minimum. An absurd rule that led to most of those players being released because franchises have such limited Gold slots available and teams have to choose between them young players and established national team players.
The Mentor Loophole
The Mentor rule was originally designed for retired legends like Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq to stay involved in the game. Over time, it has become a way of artificially downgrading a player's category.The rule states that a player can be designated as a "mentor" if they are of a certain stature and have retired from international cricket. The key benefit is that a mentor can be relegated by one category from their original slot, keeping the same salary. Teams now use this loophole to retain top players in lower categories.
A recent controversy was when Imad Wasim retired from international cricket just before Islamabad announced their retentions, allowing them to keep him as a mentor at a lower category. Then took back his retirement after the tournament.Similarly, Kieron Pollard was retained by Karachi in Gold despite reportedly being paid over $230,000, the maximum of the Platinum category.
https://x.com/aliktareen/article/2003459613241586099/media/2003456053216968715
The rule was meant for elder statesmen to pass on wisdom. Instead, it's a category manipulation tool that rewards certain franchises for gaming the system rather than building squads based on player value.
"But the PSL can't afford IPL money."
Nobody's asking for IPL money.In the IPL 2026 auction, Cameron Green went for Rs 25.20 crore ($3 million) and Matheesha Pathirana for Rs 18 crore ($2.1 million). But those numbers are not relevant here because they apply only to a handful of players.
The salaries of most IPL players are comparable to those of top earners in most leagues, including the PSL.
David Miller, one of the most destructive finishers in T20 cricket, went for $235,000. Ben Duckett, one of the best opening batters in the world, sold for the same. So did Finn Allen, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Anrich Nortje. Quinton de Kock, a World Cup winner, went for just $120,000.
The PSL pays its top Platinum players between $170,000 to $220,000. David Warner was the exception at $300,000. The gap isn't as dramatic as people think. The difference is that the PSL locks players into predetermined categories while the IPL lets the market decide.
Others are Following Suit
The ILT20 just held its first-ever auction in October 2025 after three seasons of drafts. It was a massive success, with the league full of superstars like Tim David, Andre Russell, Liam Livingstone, and Wanindu Hasaranga. Each team had an auction purse of $800,000 with an overall squad budget of $1.5 to $2 million. Andre Fletcher was the top buy at $260,000, while UAE pacer Junaid Siddique was bought at $170,000 because multiple teams wanted him.After five seasons of drafts, The Hundred is also moving to an auction in March 2026. Teams get a salary cap of $2.6 million. They're introducing multi-year contracts and flexible salaries based on bidding rather than fixed bands. Even the SA20 has moved to an auction this year. Leagues worldwide recognise the benefit of values set by fair market competition, not an arbitrarily decided category.
What an Auction Fixes
It establishes close to true market value. No more debates about whether someone is "really" Platinum or an inflated Diamond. Let franchises put their money where their opinions are.It creates competitive balance through financial constraints, not arbitrary pick orders. Every team gets the same purse. Spend wisely or don't. But the opportunity is equal.
It gives emerging players a real shot at fair compensation. A 19-year-old bowling 145kph shouldn't be earning the same $7,500 as every other name in his category just because that's where the draft slotted him.
The PSL currently has a draft budget of $1.4 million per team. That's already workable for an auction, especially since most available players have no competing franchise tournament during the PSL window. Players won't have particularly high demands.
Salary caps of other top leagues:
- Hundred: $2.6 million
- SA20: $2.3 million
- ILT20: $2 million
- PSL: $1.4 million
The PSL has the players and the budget. Now, a decade since its start, it just needs the will.
Source: Ali Khan Tareen on X
