Following the finalization of the 20-member squads for the Pakistan Super League (PSL), PCB and the six franchises have decided to add one more domestic player along with increasing the pay cap of each player to $25,000.
A press released was issued by PCB, which read:
All [six] franchises unanimously decided to increase the player salary cap by $25,000 allowing teams to pick a squad of 21 players for this [PSL] season.
The newly-inducted cricketers will be from Pakistan and may include players unearthed through talent hunt programmes or top performers from the National T20 Cup taking place in Rawalpindi currently.
It was decided at the [Monday] meeting of all franchises with PSL chairman Najam Sethi, which was held at the NCA.
The meeting was attended by Asher Schon, managing director Multan Sultans; Nadeem Omar, owner of Quetta Gladiators; Javed Afridi, owner of Peshawar Zalmi; Atif Rana, CEO of Lahore Qalandars; Salman Iqbal, owner of Karachi Kings and Ali Naqvi, co-owner of Islamabad United.
The basic purpose of the meeting was to brief about the ways ‘to streamline the talent hunt programmes.’ A detailed plan was also devised and was run through all franchise representatives to further improve the talent scouting process.
Najam Sethi emphasized to strengthen PSL’s anti-corruption unit.
He said:
The problem of counterfeit merchandising was also discussed [at the meeting]. It was decided that the league will take legal measures to clamp down on counterfeit merchandising.
This year’s competition will see all six franchises participating together for the first time. They will play a total of 34 games, including 10 in Lahore and Karachi.
It was also revealed in the press conference that some foreign players’ availability is still unknown for the matches which are to be played in Pakistan. However, PCB claims that they remain hopeful and will receive official confirmation soon.