On Friday (December 14), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the full schedule of the fourth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL 2019) that will be held from 14 February to 17 March 2019. Like the last season, a total of 34 matches will be played in the upcoming edition while the last eight matches will be hosted by Pakistan.
While the six teams will participate in the new season, the PSL 2019 has the same tournament structure like its previous season. The participating teams are Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators and the Sixth Team. The PSL 2019 will be the 32-day tournament.
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Like the previous season, each team will play twice against all the other participating teams in the PSL 2019. At the end of the double round-robin system, the top four teams will qualify for the playoffs. The top two teams will feature in the Qualifier where the winner will seal their spot in the final of the tournament while the defeated team will qualify for the Eliminator 2.
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Earlier of the Qualifier match, the third and fourth teams will meet in the Eliminator 1 where the winner will qualify for the Eliminator 2 and loser will be eliminated. In the Qualifier 2, the winner will reach the final where they will meet against the Qualifier winner. The winner of the final will win the crown of PSL 2019.
In the PSL 2019, the first 26 matches will be held at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while Pakistan will organise the last eight games. After Pakistan failed to organise the inaugural PSL in 2016, they organised only the final in PSL 2017 and the last three games in PSL 2018. So, this time, Pakistan has gained more opportunities to organize the tournament.
The UAE leg of the PSL 2019 will be held in three international cricket stadiums and these are Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai), Sharjah Cricket Stadium (Sharjah) and Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium (Abu Dhabi).
National Stadium (Karachi) and Gaddafi Stadium (Lahore) will be the two Pakistan stadiums that will organise the Pakistan leg of PSL 2019. Apart from all the playoffs of PSL 2019, these Pakistan stadiums will also organise the last four games during the double round-robin leg. Gaddafi Stadium will organise the Eliminator 1 on 12 March 2019 while National Stadium will organize all the last three playoffs of PSL 2019 – Qualifier (13 March 2019), Eliminator 2 (15 March 2019) and Final (17 March 2019).
On Friday, PCB released a statement during announcing the tournament schedule and it claimed, “The PCB is delighted to announce the schedule of the Pakistan Super League 2019, which marks two months to go to one of the PCB’s marquee events which continue to grow in reputation and stature. The PCB is committed to working harder to make the PSL an even bigger and better tournament, with the focus being to provide top notch playing facilities to the players, increase the fan base and provide the followers complete entertainment, and ensure all interests of our key stakeholders are adequately and professionally taken care of.”
It further added, “The PCB believes that the PSL is a gateway to resumption of international cricket in Pakistan. By successfully staging eight matches in Lahore and Karachi with the support of the local authorities, the PCB is optimistic that it will once again prove to the world that Pakistan is as safe and secure a place as any other part of the world to play international cricket.”
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: The #HBLPSL tournament schedule is out! Mark the dates and see your favourite team in action. The league will be played at five venues across the UAE and Pakistan, Abu Dhabi to host games for the first time with Karachi to stage the grand final. #KhelDeewanoKa pic.twitter.com/CDoeMdains
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) December 14, 2018
