The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the player auction for the eleventh edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be held on February 11, according to a press release issued on Sunday.
It was announced by the PCB that the upcoming season of the country’s premier cricket league would adopt an auction model, replacing the previous draft system.
As per the release, the cricket board conducted a detailed workshop today (Sunday) regarding the upcoming HBL PSL player auction at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, presided by chairman Mohsin Naqvi, and attended by representatives from all eight franchises, PSL officials, and members of Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad.
During the workshop, the management shared a detailed presentation on the mechanics of the retention and the auction process and consulted with all the participants, the PCB said.
“It was agreed that the HBL PSL Player Auction will take place on Wednesday, 11 February.”
The PCB further revealed the base prices of the players, saying that “auction price and minimum incremental bids for the players were to be in Pakistani Rupees”.
The base price of the top bracket was set at Rs42 million, Rs22m, Rs11m and Rs6m.
The cricket board said the minimum incremental bid for each base price would follow as:
- Rs250,000 for bid amounts under Rs11m
- Rs500,000 for bid amounts under Rs22m
- Rs1 million for bid amounts under Rs42m
- Rs15 million for bid amounts above Rs42m
“The franchises are free to bid higher than the above mentioned minimum incremental bid for each base price,” the PCB said.
It added that the squad composition would be a “minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 20 players per franchise”. The number of foreign players would be five to seven, depending on the squad size. It would be mandatory for the franchises to include a minimum of three and a maximum of four foreign players in the playing XI.
Furthermore, it said that the teams would also be required to have a minimum of two uncapped Under-23 players in the squad and one in the playing XI.
The cricket board said, “Players either retained or picked in the HBL PSL 11 Players Auction will be engaged for two-year contracts with their respective franchise teams. After the HBL PSL 11, the franchise teams will be able to retain a maximum of seven players for the 12th edition of the tournament.”
“Following the HBL PSL 12, there shall be a grand auction whereby each franchise is allowed a maximum of five retentions. Any released player will return to the player auction pool,” it added.
PCB said that the franchises would also be entitled to directly sign one foreign player for the upcoming season, who has not played in the previous edition.
“The franchise team’s purse of Rs450m would be extendable to Rs505m to include the directly signed foreign players.”
“The PCB will also contribute towards the procurement of elite foreign players,” it said.
While hailing the major shift from draft to auction, PCB chairman said, “The Player Auction model is a landmark step for the HBL PSL, offering players better financial opportunities through an increased salary purse and a transparent acquisition process, while making the league more competitive and attractive.”
The forthcoming PSL will also feature two new franchises — Hyderabad and Sialkot — raising the total number of teams to 8. It was announced that PSL’s 11th edition would be held from March 26 to May 3, 2026.
