Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is adamant about adopting an “auction model” for drafting players into the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has reportedly sent a proposal underlining its plan to all six franchises.
PCB’s chairman, Ramiz Raja, is said to be a big proponent of the auction model which in his opinion can help attract the biggest names in T20 cricket towards PSL.
Currently, PSL follows a “draft model” with the teams given a pick each to select players for each of its Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Emerging categories. Players of the same categories get paid equal amounts regardless of their stature in the cricketing world.
Meanwhile, leagues like the IPL follow an “auction model” with teams free to bid on the players of their choosing from an allocated pool with the winning bid becoming the player’s salary for the season.
Such a method guarantees that players which every team wants (Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi or Rashid Khan for example) can garner a much higher payday, which in return attracts the top cricketing talent to the league.
With competition for noteworthy names increasing every other week due to the growing number of T20 leagues, it makes sense for PCB to adopt the auction model for PSL to guarantee an influx of premium talent pool in Pakistan.
However, the franchise owners get the final say on whether the proposal succeeds with major details yet to be ironed out between the Board and the owners. If it succeeds in beguiling the franchises, the new model can come into effect in 2024.
