Inaugural edition of next year's Women’s PSL to have four teams
'Every team will be allowed to include four to five foreign players for the first edition. 16 to 20 foreign players are expected to compete,' source w
ISLAMABAD: Maiden edition of the Women's Pakistan Super League (PSL) is to be played in the later part of March next year, and the event will have four-teams besides attracting 16 to 20 top foreign players, The News reported.
A well-placed source has confirmed to ‘The News’ that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given go ahead to the start of four-team Pakistan Super League for Women which would be the first of its kind in the country.
"There is good news for Pakistan cricket fans especially for the women as the PCB has decided to go ahead with the start of the inaugural Pakistan Super League for Women next year. Four teams will compete in this inaugural edition on the basis of the single league format," a source within the Board said.
"The interesting part is that every team will be allowed to include four to five foreign players for the first edition, meaning 16 to 20 foreign players are expected to compete in the inaugural league. Besides that, the best of locals will be seen in action that could well be organised with the last part of the PSL 2023," the source added.
The PCB is currently considering two windows for the inaugural edition of the women league with the first one is to organise it with the PSL in late March 2023.
"The 2023 PSL is expected to start from late February 2023 and will run till late March. One option available for the PCB is to organise the inaugural edition of the women’s league with the last part of PSL. Seven matches will be played in the first edition that could well be played parallel with the last seven matches of the PSL — meaning the day would start with the women's league match followed by the men's PSL match late in the evening. It is believed that such a format will add extra spice in the league and would help in introducing the women’s format to the general public," the source said.
The same format was used by the ICC for women T20I World Cup from 2012 to 2016, therefore it may well be a success as well. Once the Women’s World Cup got popular, the ICC separated it from the men’s edition from 2016 onward.
Moreover, the PCB also believes that it would help in saving extra expenditures. "By organising the inaugural edition with the men’s event, the PCB expects to save a huge amount that otherwise would have to be spent on broadcasting and marketing of the event. On one hand it will help in instantly introducing the women league and on the other it would help save extra expenditure," the source said.
The second window comes in May 2023 when the New Zealand team will be in Pakistan to play five ODIs and as many T20Is and the League could well be organised during that tour too. One good thing, as per source, about the May window is that the majority of leading international women players would be easily available for the League. However, the source said that the weather in May usually turns very hot which should be considered.
In the women PSL, it will be mandatory for all four teams to include two under-19 players in the line-up.
"Once all the details are finalised we would be in a position to name teams. The inaugural women franchise team names however will be different from the one we have for PSL and for the Junior League. What we want is to make the women’s league a real brand and for that we will have to use the best available options to make an immediate impression," the source added.
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