PSL CEO Salman Naseer looking to avoid match timing clash with IPL 2025 fixtures

The dates of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL) are set to clash this season, with the latter scheduled to begin from April 11 and continue until May 18. The Indian T20 league will run from March 22 to May 25.

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to organise the event inside the IPL window has raised eyebrows. PSL CEO Salman Naseer, however, says he has chosen this duration since it was the only viable option on a busy international calendar.

However, he wasn’t willing to jump the gun in trying to determine whether this would be the permanent slot for the PSL moving forward.

In a chat with  Sportstar, Naseer spoke at length on a range of issues.

What was the reason behind choosing the April-May window, despite knowing that the tournament would clash with the IPL?

It was a tough decision and one which was not taken lightly either. The challenge that we faced this year was that the Champions Trophy was scheduled in February and March, which has been the traditional window for the PSL.

So, we had to look for another window. Now it is a challenge, generally speaking, looking for a window which is sizable during the FTP (Future Tours Program) that exists nowadays. The volume of cricket that is happening across the globe is tremendous.

Any clear window is difficult to find. And now the leagues are also sort of competing with each other during this period. So, we really had to come up with a strategy and solution to this problem that we had faced.

One solution was, of course, to try and do it in the window during which the IPL takes place. The IPL itself is a fairly lengthy tournament. But no other cricket was taking place during that time and Pakistani players were not participating in the IPL either, which meant that this was a period where the core of the PSL would very much be present.

There is a large viewership of PSL in India as well. And of course, people in Pakistan also watch the IPL. The fear is that as far as the international viewers are concerned, it’s going to be a potential challenge because both options are available and on the same dates.

Kolkata Knight Riders is the defending champion of the IPL.
| Photo Credit:
Ragu R / The Hindu

The other element was player availability. We had obviously had an analysis done to see which players will be available. There’s only so many that are going to get picked up. There is no other bilateral likely to happen in this period.

As far as the clash is concerned, which people are calling it, I think that’s not the right term to use. We’ve been speaking with our counterparts also – the IPL authorities – and trying to mitigate it because we want the fans in India to be able to watch the PSL and you want the Pakistani fans to be able to watch IPL as well. So we’re working on match timings and finding ways to mitigate this overlap.

Does the quality of players who are going to play in the PSL take a hit?

We also analysed whether we would get better quality players or worse. And of course, it’s a subjective thing, but people have different views about which player is a better player, who’s good and who’s not.

By and large, the quality of players and the period of availability of these players has improved for us. In PSL 10, we will probably have better quality players and competition, which is something we’ve always prided ourselves on. We believe our league is always very competitive.

READ: Champions Trophy schedule in focus as India enjoys Dubai advantage, while others face travel chaos

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a high percentage – something around 30% – of matches go to the last over. Also, otherwise, it’s generally a short and sweet event. So, we wanted to keep that essence alive as well. I think we’ve been able to do that.

What kind of discussions did you have with the IPL Governing Council? What are the possible match timings that you are looking at?

As anybody who’s a fan of cricket, we should not put ourselves at a disadvantage. That is the idea behind it. And the only discussion that we’ve had is how can we potentially mitigate the loss for a cricket fan when deciding the timings for both the IPL and the PSL.

You probably want to give us maybe another couple of weeks before we get going. The idea is just to make sure that a cricket fan has maximum availability of cricketing content. And as much as we can lessen the overlap, it’s better for both.

Since the SA20 and ILT20 are held in January-February now, do you think that going forward the PSL should stick to the April-May window?

The other leagues, as far as them overlapping with the PSL is concerned, have thus far avoided our window. Historically speaking, they tend to finish off before the PSL starts. There is a recognition generally amongst all these other league owners and organisers that you don’t want to clash with the IPL and PSL.

Largely, we have had independent windows in the past. This year, it’s going to be interesting. I think a lot of it is about experimenting and evaluating the data that we receive after.

ALSO READ: Decoding Shubman Gill’s pull shot — The data behind his ODI dominance

So, I don’t think we are jumping the gun in trying to determine whether this is the slot for us moving forward. But certainly there are going to be additional potential challenges, given that we are looking to expand the number of teams in the PSL after this edition. So, with a larger number of teams, you expect a bigger window to be available.

So, there are a lot of interesting things to come. Some of our rights are going to be up for valuation and sale as well. So, a lot will depend on our analysis and data that comes out after this PSL.

Won’t some of the big names be missing out since the tournaments overlap?

This year, it sort of worked out nicely. Even though some big names were not available, others were.

The foreign players add a lot of flavour. We always welcome them with open arms. But the core is always going to be the Pakistani players. We may not get, for example, Rashid Khan, who’s previously participated in the PSL, but you get David Warner, on the other hand, this time.

David Warner found no takers during the IPL auction ahead of the 2025 edition.
| Photo Credit:
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR / The Hindu

It’s a nice mix. The element of something new is coming as well.

Being the CEO of a league, how challenging is it to ensure that you come up with an improvised product year after year?

I don’t think we’ve reached that stage where you could say there’s an element of stagnation.

The reason why I’m saying we haven’t reached that stage yet is because every year we’ve faced a new hurdle and overcome it.

We started off the league at a time when there was no cricket happening in Pakistan. We had to play abroad. So, the challenge was to try and bring cricket back to Pakistan.

ALSO READ: One city, two museums and tonnes of cricketing memories

And then we were able to have just a final and then some playoffs and a final. Eventually, we got the whole event back to Pakistan. But COVID hit. Then you had to overcome that challenge.

Once that was done, new teams were added, new cities were added. So, this year, for example, Peshawar will feature in an exhibition game for the first time. And that is a city that has a lot of cricket fandom, history and passion.

So, that’s going to be the new element this season, while we celebrate our 10th year.

At the end of this year, we might get two more teams. So, there’s something always going on, which is, I think, re-energising the concept, the event and the passion of the fans.

How challenging has it been to spread the game to various parts of the country, moving on from the four traditional centres?

It was a challenge just to come back to these traditional centres. And now that we’ve been able to do that, the desire, especially this year and moving forward, is to take the PSL beyond these four cities.

One of the elements that we’ve incorporated in a step in that direction this year is that we are going to have a trophy tour inside the country for the first time. It would fairly extensive.

Islamabad United players celebrate with the PSL trophy on March 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Fareed Khan

The idea is to reach some of those audiences which don’t originally get to see live action within the stadium. We are also exploring the concept of a fan park.

With cricket league mushrooming across the globe, the integrity of the game has often come under the scanner. How does an established league like the PSL ensure the said integrity is not compromised?

One of the hallmarks of making sure that the league is successful is to ensure that there’s integrity.

We faced challenges in the past PSL editions. But we acted swiftly and severely to ensure that this never happens again.

The first element is how the players perceive the league. The issue of player payments is important. They need to be reassured regarding the same so that they do not have any hesitation in their minds. We’ve been very clear about that from the first edition.

The second has been integrity.

The third, for us in particular, has been just the competitiveness of it. It’s not about one of the aspects of the game – batting or bowling. It’s always been a balance between bat and ball. That’s been the unique element.

ALSO READ: Abdul Hafeez Kardar, the man who put Pakistan on the cricket map

In addition, there is this camaraderie and hospitality. Those are traditional and unique and we try to maintain the same.

We have players who haven’t so far been part of the PSL and they were very keen to join this year, but unfortunately didn’t get picked.

When the foreign players go back and talk about their experiences here, we’ve seen they’ve turned out to be sort of ambassadors for us. It protects our league and keeps us unique from others as well.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India does not allow its players to feature in any league except the IPL. Will it be viable for the PCB to follow the BCCI’s footsteps?

The workload management of players is becoming very important for mental well-being.

So many players, even in this Champions Trophy, have had injuries either before or during the tournament. The volume of cricket has increased.

It’s now important for the players themselves and the boards to devise a strategy to protect their players. So, on the one hand, you want them to be available to participate in the leagues around the world. But on the other hand, you also want their welfare to be of importance – one to them and two to the board as well.

It’s a balance between the two. And the balance is being disturbed with the increasing volume of league and bilateral cricket.

So, it will be about picking and choosing tournaments?

Yeah. At the PCB, there’s always been an NOC (No Objection Certificate) policy that guides you. Only a limited number of NOCs are available to the centrally contracted players on an individual basis. They review the workload management, future planning, etc. These are important elements which need to be fine-tuned.