LAHORE: All is set for the HBL Pakistan Super League-X, with defending champions Islamabad United taking on two times champions Lahore Qalandars at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on April 11.
The six-team tournament will see 34 matches played from April 11 to May 18.
Lahore’s newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium is set to host 13 matches, including two eliminators and the final.
The six-team tournament will be broadcast live on A Sports, as Pakistan’s first HD sports channel continues its association with the marquee event. The matches will also be broadcast live on PTV Sports in Pakistan. Also, the Urdu and English feed will be divided between A Sports and PTV Sports. On the days A Sports broadcasts the matches in English, PTV Sports will broadcast them in Urdu, and vice versa.
For live-streaming, Walee Technologies, which has acquired live-streaming rights in the country, has sub-licensed, Tapmad, Tamasha, Daraz, Myco and Begin to live stream matches on their respective platforms in Pakistan.
TransGroup, after winning the HBL PSL broadcast and live-streaming rights for all regions outside Pakistan, has sub-licensed different channels to broadcast the league’s matches.
For international audiences, SKY Sports and Geo will broadcast the matches in UK, while Willow TV will cover the action for North American viewers. Super Sport will broadcast matches for cricket lovers residing in Africa, while for viewers in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, MYCO will broadcast all the action.
The six-team tournament will also be broadcast at the neighbouring countries – Bangladesh (T Sports) and India (Fancode for digital only). Sony TV will broadcast matches in Afghanistan, India and Sri Lanka. Sports Central will broadcast matches for the Rest of the World.
A total of 32 high-definition cameras, including the buggy cam will stream high-quality action to HBL-PSL-X fans around the world. Spidercam will not only bring dynamic angles to TV audiences but it has also been upgraded with a microphone and speaker enhancement for conducting on-field player interviews during the matches.
DRS technology will also be available throughout HBL PSL X while drone cameras will enhance the quality of streaming. Additionally, Augmented Reality (AR) graphics will be used to enrich the viewing experience.
Moreover, the PCB has announced the match officials for HBL Pakistan Super League X. A total of 13 umpires and seven match referees will be involved in 30 matches, while the match officials for the Qualifier, two eliminators and final, will be announced in due course.
Elite Panel of ICC Umpires – Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel and Kumar Dharmasena are among the 13 umpires officiating in the six-team tournament. Also included are Alex Wharf and Chris Brown.
From Pakistan, Aleem Dar, Asif Yaqoob, Faisal Khan Aafreedi, Rashid Riaz Waqar are part of the PCB International Panel of Umpires.
Abdul Moqeet, Nasir Hussain, Tariq Rasheed and Zulfiqar Jan – part of PCB Elite Panel of Umpires will also be officiating matches during this edition of the HBL PSL.
Among the match referees, ICC Elite Panel of Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle will officiate matches alongside his fellow Sri Lankan Roshan Mahanama. Also serving as match referees are Ali Naqvi and Muhammad Javed Malik – both from the PCB International Panel of Match Referees.
Iftikhar Ahmed, Iqbal Sheikh and Nadeem Arshad will also officiate during the tournament.
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