Dubai will be one of two venues to host the inaugural edition of the PSL

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have confirmed that Dubai and Sharjah will be the official venues for the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which will be held from February 4 to 24.

The announcement on Thursday ends speculation about where the tournament would be held as places such as Qatar were in the fray at one point.

There were also concerns about whether the United Arab Emirates would be able to accommodate both the PSL and the Masters Champions League, which is a Twenty20 tournament for retired cricketers.

But, with the Masters Champions League set to be held in Abu Dhabi concurrently, Dubai and Sharjah became available as venues for the maiden edition of the PSL.

Najam Sethi, who is the chairman of the governing council of the PSL, revealed that the board has already floated tenders for broadcast and production rights and added that a tender for sponsors will be floated in the second week of October.

“The PSL has already floated tenders for broadcasters and producers,” Sethi said. “This will be followed by a tendering process for sponsorships in the second week of October. Franchise owners will be inducted between mid to end November, after which the foreign and local players will be drafted and teams constituted.”

In regards to the number of foreign players that have signed up to play in the PSL, Sethi said that the “the latest tally of foreign player signing consents [stand] at an impressive 132. The players will be selected through a draft process in December.”

The five franchises – Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore, and Islamabad – will have a purse of $1 million each, from which they will chose players and support staff.

“There is a pool of top coaches also, from which franchise owners will be able to pick and chose,” Sethi said.