LAHORE: The HBL-Pakistan Super League (PSL) is all set to welcome its tenth edition – HBL-PSL-X, when defending champions Islamabad United take on Lahore Qalandars at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
A glittering opening ceremony before the start of play on Friday will mark the beginning of this historic edition. HBL-PSL-X is slated to run from 11th April to 18th May with night matches starting at 8pm PKT.
The 34-match tournament comprises of three-double headers scheduled on 12th April, 1st and 10th May, while the remaining fixtures will be single headers taking place across Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi. The three afternoon games will begin at 4:00pm PKT.
The six teams will also be locking horns to take away the US$500,000 prize money set for the winners, while the runners-up team will be awarded US$200,000. The HBL-PSL-X Draft, which took place on 13th January, gave the six franchises an opportunity to refurbish their squads ahead of the historic edition.
The newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is set to play host to 13 HBL-PSL-X matches including Qualifier, Eliminator and the 18th May final. The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium will host 11 matches, while Multan Cricket Stadium and National Bank Stadium will witness five HBL-PSL-X matches each this season.
Babar Azam, the leading run-scorer in the HBL-PSL with 3,504 runs to his name, will be leading the HBL-PSL 2017 winners Peshawar Zalmi. Australia’s David Warner becomes the fourth overseas player to lead the 2020 champions Karachi Kings after Ravi Bopara, Kumar Sangakkara and Eoin Morgan.
Mohammad Rizwan, who led Multan Sultans to glory in the 2021 edition in Abu Dhabi, will continue to reign as Sultans’ skipper having done so 48 times in the previous four HBL-PSL editions. Quetta’s Saud Shakeel will take the leadership duties of the Gladiators from Rilee Rossouw.
Shadab Khan, who has led Islamabad United in 55 HBL-PSL matches so far, has been entrusted leadership duties for HBL-PSL-X as well, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, the only captain to have won consecutive HBL-PSL titles will be in charge of the Lahore Qalandars.
In HBL-PSL-2024, Islamabad United emerged winners bagging the title for third time, while Multan Sultans ended up as runners-up for the third consecutive time.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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