PSL could potentially move to IPL’s April-May window from next season: Reports

In what would be a radical change in the cricket calendar, ESPNcricinfo reports the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which is usually played in the months of February and March, could move to an April-May window from 2025, meaning that the tournament would directly clash with the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

The plan, according to ESPNCricinfo, was proposed at a meeting between the board and six franchises on May 4 (Saturday), a month before the formal PSL governing council meeting set to take place at the end of the month. However, as things stand, not all franchises are believed to be on-board with the proposal.

The same report also states that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is contemplating other changes, including playing the PSL playoffs outside Pakistan, potentially in the United Kingdom (UK). 

The move to shift the PSL to an April-May window, according to the aforementioned report, is being proposed to take the competition away from a cramped cricketing calendar that already sees plenty of other leagues being played in and around the same time period. This year, for instance, the PSL clashed with the latter stages of the International League T20 (ILT20) and overlapped with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for about a month. 

Should it move to April-May, the PSL will be competing with a giant in IPL, but the PCB are said to be looking to ‘co-exist’ with the IPL rather than competing.

Moving the competition to an April-May window, though, will bring plenty of challenges, not least player availability. The PSL will likely not be able to sign top overseas talents due to the IPL, but moving to April-May will mean complications with regards to English domestic players availability due to the County Championship. 

PSL 2024 witnessed a total of 14 English players feature in the competition. Most of them were white-ball specialists, but there’s a good chance that the franchises won’t be able to sign multi-format young England players — such as Dan Mousley — who have red-ball ambitions, due to PSL clashing with the County Championship. 

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