Here’s Why Adding More Teams Will Make PSL World’s Best T20 League

The seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has entered its business end as Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars are vying for the spot to face Multan Sultans in the final of the tournament.

Over the seven seasons, PSL has grown leaps and bounds with the global viewership and interest gathering rapid pace season by season. The high standard of cricket and the top-notch production quality has always been the selling point of PSL, but the stadiums filled with fans in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore this season has taken Pakistan’s premier T20 tournament to incredible heights.

While the tournament has been a success, there is still room for improvement to make it the top franchise T20 league in the world. One such way to improve the standard of the league even further is to increase the number of teams in the tournament. While the idea to increase the number of teams has been floating around for quite some time, it is high time that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) looks to add more teams in the next couple of seasons.

Let’s have a look at the reasons why PSL should increase the number of teams:

More Investment in Local Cricket

The PSL has done wonders for the local cricketers in the country. Players such as Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, and many more have come up through the ranks and the inclusion of more teams will improve the opportunity at the grassroots level even further. The competitiveness between the teams on the field will force them to focus on local cricket and identify talented cricketers playing in the circuit.

It will also enable the franchises to improve the infrastructure and facilities in their areas of interest. All the franchises will look to broaden their scouting network and provide the best platform for talented youngsters to showcase their talents.

Some of the youngsters who have gone on to represent Pakistan after performing in PSL are as follows:

Shadab Khan	Hasan Ali	Haris Rauf	Asif Ali
Fakhar Zaman	Hussain Talat	Mohammad Nawaz	Ahsan Ali
Mohammad Wasim Jnr.	Haider Ali	Azam Khan	Shaheen Afridi
Rumman Raees	Arshad Iqbal	Musa Khan	Amad Butt

Enhance Quality of the League

Additional teams will only improve the quality of the league. There are a lot of talented cricketers who do not get a chance to play in the PSL due to the obvious restrictions of the squad sizes. Additional teams will solve the issue as many deserving players will be picked and will be offered the perfect platform to prove their worth. This will also provide the opportunity to involve more foreign players in the league and with additional top cricketers from around the globe, the standard of cricket in the competition will improve further.

Pakistan is blessed with top top-class bowling talent in the country and this will enable the youngsters to learn more from the experienced cricketers and enhance their own game even further. Pakistan can maintain the same quality of cricket and have more teams unlike other cricket leagues around the world. This has been mentioned by many foreign batters who have played in various leagues around the world. PSL’s quality is because of the depth of bowling options here.

More Players From Domestic Circuit

With the current six-team setup, there are a lot of talented domestic cricketers who get overlooked. Players such as Salman Ali Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel, Kashif Bhatti, Aamer Jamal, Junaid Khan, and even Ahmed Shehzad were some of the top performers in the recently held National T20 Cup but they were unable to make it to the PSL due to the lack of available slots.

Additional teams will solve this problem as the top performers at the domestic circuit will get ample opportunities to prove their mettle and ultimately stake their claim on the national side.

Here are the stats of some of the top performers in the previous National T20 Cup:

Player	Matches	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Ahmed Shehzad	11	344	31.27	128.35
Agha Salman	7	176	29.33	124.82
Tayyab Tahir	4	193	48.25	146.21

Player	Matches	Wickets	Average	Economy Rate
Kashif Bhatti	10	10	23.90	7.24
Junaid Khan	9	11	23.00	8.72
Aamer Jamal	4	5	29.60	10.44

Different Strategies and Innovation

PSL is home to some of the best coaches and think tanks of T20 cricket in the world. Coaches such as Andy Flower, Peter Moores, Azhar Mahmood, James Foster are renowned for unique strategies that can help them win crucial matches. While the game itself is played with the bat and the ball, the team with the best strategy for crucial phases of the game usually comes out on top.

PSL is renowned for its use of data to come up with unique strategies and additional teams will not only bring new strategies to the game but will also help in increasing the competitiveness in the league. While Multan Sultans have been absolutely outstanding in the previous two PSL seasons, it is high time that someone challenges them properly.

More Money for Franchises

PSL is a business and at the end of the day, the franchises want their business to increase exponentially and make more money. Additional teams might have hampered their progress a few seasons ago due to the limited number of funds in play in the league, but as the league grows and more teams become part of the ecosystem, it could prove to be a financial game-changer for the current franchises.

Additional teams will bring in more sponsors for the tournament and as the number of matches increases, the share of the teams will also increase.

More Matches More Fun

PSL has been a major success ever since its inception seven years ago. Additional teams will not only bring financial success to the PCB and the PSL franchises, but it will also bring a lot of fanfare. The excitement of the fans is already at an all-time high and with the addition of more teams, it will enhance even further.

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What should be the names of new teams if PCB decides to add more franchises? Write down your suggestions in the comments section.