With every passing day, the excitement for the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 8) is getting stronger and stronger. To add to all this excitement, sources close to the cricket board have released a proposed schedule for the upcoming mega event. For the fans, this season will be a treat because this edition will not only offer new and exciting faces but a variety in its venue also. Here is all you need to know about PSL 8.

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PSL 8 Venues and Schedule

The Host Cities

This year’s super league will be spread across four cities with *drumrolls* Multan having the privilege of hosting the opening ceremony along with several of the league matches including the opening match between Multan Sultans and defending champions Lahore Qalandars. It’s the first time a city other than Karachi has been given the entitlement of hosting the opening ceremony of the big event. 

Other than the city of saints, Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi stadiums will be utilized for the PSL 8. Overall the Multan Cricket Stadium will host five matches, National Bank Cricket Arena Stadium Karachi nine, Gaddafi Stadium nine, and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium eight matches.

News of including Quetta as the fifth venue was in the news recently. But, it looks like the board has postponed that decision for this year’s event.

Dates

The marquee event will commence on 13th February 2023 and will span a month with the final scheduled on 19th March 2023 in Lahore. From February 13 to February 26, the matches will alternate between Multan and Karachi. From the second game on February 26, the matches will shift to the other stadiums i-e. Rawalpindi and Lahore. The last match of the round-robin stage will be played on March 12 in Gaddafi stadium, while the playoffs will begin on March 15 in the same venue. 

According to the reports, the teams will start joining the camps from February 9 and the dates of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th have been reserved for practice sessions. It is also important to note that the dates mentioned are subject to change as an official statement from the Pakistan Cricket Board is yet to come out.

The Squads

The draft for the super league even took place on 15th December 2022. The franchises picked players in the categories of Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, Supplementary, and Emerging. Here are the complete squads of the six franchises.

Karachi Kings

Imad Wasim (C), Matthew Wade, Imran Tahir, James Vince, James Fuller, Andrew Tye, Haider Ali, Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik, Aamir Yamin, Mir Hamza, Sharjeel Khan, Qasim Akram, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Akhlaq, Irfan Khan Niazi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Mohammad Umar.

Lahore Qalandars

Shaheen Shah Afridi (C), Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, David Wiese,  Fakhar Zaman, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza,  Abdullah Shafique, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Zaman Khan, Liam Dawson, Dilbar Hussain, Mirza Tahir Baig, Ahmed Danlyal, Shawaiz Irfan, Jordan Cox, Jalat Khan

Multan Sultans

Mohammad Rizwan (C), Khushdil Shah, David Miller, Josh Little, Akeal Hosein, Usama Mir, Rilee Rossouw, Shan Masood, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tim David, Abbas Afridi, Ihsanullah, Usman Khan, Sameen Gul, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sarwar, Adil Rashid, Arafat Minhas

Islamabad United

Shadab Khan (C), Asif Ali, Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Colin Munro, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abrar Ahmed, Sohaib Maqsood, Rumman Raees, Zeeshan Zamir, Hassan Nawaz, Moeen Ali, Mubasir Khan

Quetta Gladiators

Sarfaraz Ahmed (C), Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed,  Will Smeed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Naseem Shah, Jason Roy, Mohammad Hasnain, Naveen ul Haq, Umar Akmal, Odean Smith, Ahsan Ali, Umaid Asif, Muhammad Zahid, Abdul Bangalzai, Aimal Khan, Martin Guptill, Omair Bin Yousuf

Peshawar Zalmi

Babar Azam (C), Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Haris, Aamir Jamal, Salman Irshad, Tom-Kohler Cadmore, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Rovman Powell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Danish Aziz, Arshad Iqbal, Saim Ayub, Usman Qadir, Suifyan Muqeem, Haseeb Ullah, Jimmy Neesham

Notably, the full schedule is still awaited and is expected to be released in a few weeks’ time.

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