The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has scrapped the traditional draft system and will transition to an auction model for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) ahead of its landmark season 11.
This year around, the league underwent its first major overhaul with the addition of two new teams and will now undergo an auction process, a move aimed at increasing the competitiveness between the outfits and giving a fair chance for the two new teams to pick their players.
How will the PSL auction process work, and what are the procedures to follow? This is explained below
Draft vs Auction Process: What has changed
Previously, teams selected players through a draft, picking from different categories — Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Emerging. However, as per the auction process, outfits will buy players through an open auction, similar to the IPL, where teams have a fixed budget.
PSL team’s salary purse
Each PSL team will be given a salary purse of $1.6 million to build its squad, an increase from the previous year’s limit of $1.2 million.
Players retentions and RTM
The highly anticipated auction will be a testing time, as previously the teams had the right to retain eight players, including a ‘brand ambassador and a mentor.
Under the new rules, each franchise is allowed to retain a maximum of four players ahead of the auction, but can now retain one player from the aforementioned categories.
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For example, Lahore Qalandars have multiple players spread across categories — Diamond, Silver, Jubilee, and Gold.
- Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf (Platinum)
- Fakhar Zaman (Diamond)
- Zaman Khan (Silver)
If both Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf fall under the Diamond category, the franchise will be allowed to retain only one of them, while the other will automatically be released into the auction pool.
One notable change in PSL will be the removal of the Right to Match (RTM) option. Previously, the teams could reclaim a player during the draft by matching the highest bid.
This means that a team like Lahore Qalandars will now compete financially for former players rather than rely on special privileges.
Additionally, Mentors and Brand Ambassador regulations have also been removed.
Direct Overseas Signing
Besides RTM and the other changes, all eight outfits can sign one foreign player directly outside the auction process. The condition is that the player must not have featured in PSL x.
Hyderabad and Sialkot team formation
The two new league franchises, Sialkot and Hyderabad, will be given a special window before the auction to select and retain four players from the available player pool.
The rule has been introduced to help the new teams build a competitive core ahead of their first season, ensuring they enter the auction on a more level playing field with the existing teams.