2019 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 4 or for sponsorship reasons HBL PSL 2019) was the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. The tournament took place from 14 February to 17 March 2019. In the championship game,

Quetta Gladiators Quetta Gladiators (Urdu, Balochi: ; Pashto: کویټه ګلیډیټرز) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They play most home games at the 27,000-capacity Gaddafi Stadium ...

defeated Peshawar Zalmi by eight wickets in Karachi to win the title for the first time.

Mohammad Hasnain Mohammad Hasnain (born 5 April 2000) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played for the Pakistan cricket team since 2019. He is one of the fastest bowlers currently, timed at over 150kmh. Early life Hasnain was born in a family of six tracing its ...

of Quetta was named the Man of the Match of the Final. Shane Watson, also of Quetta, was awarded the Player of the Tournament award and the leading run scorer award with a total of 435 runs in the tournament. Hasan Ali of Peshawar was awarded the leading wicket taker award with a total of 25 wickets.

Background

On 10 November 2018, PCB terminated franchise agreements with the owner of Multan Sultans,

Schön Properties Schön Properties is a Dubai-based real estate developer. The company generated a gross development value of over USD $ 2 billion. It was founded in 1971 in Singapore by the Schon family, which originated in Pakistan. The company has been involv ...

Ali Khan Tareen Jahangir Khan Tareen (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani business magnate who is the majority shareholder & CEO of JDW Group, a Conglomerate specialised in Sugar Manufacturing and has four sugar units, Biomass (Bagasse) Cogeneration which has two powe ...

later became the new owner of the team. On 14 November, PCB announced that HBL has renewed its partnership with PSL for 3 more years until 2021. On 21 December, Blitz Advertising won the broadcasting rights for 3 years on a bid of , which is 358% greater amount than before.

Broadcasting partners

The broadcasting rights of the 4th season of PSL were given to various Sports channels for covering the event in different countries. The broadcasting rights of the season in Pakistan were given to leading sports channels, PTV Sports & Geo Super, whereas in United States and Canada the rights were given to Willow TV. Hum TV was given the rights to broadcast the series in UK & Europe. The OTT rights for Middle-Eastern and North Africa Countries were given to Cricketgateway. In case of India the broadcasting rights were given to DSports which partnered with Daily Fantasy Site, MyTeam11, to co-present PSL in India.

Teams and squads

Each franchise retained up to 10 players during the trade and retention window that started on 29 September. A squad of 16 players, with 4 supplementary players, was then completed in players draft held at Islamabad on 20 November. On 16 December 2018, PSL announced that each team will have additional budget to select 21-member squad. The replacement draft was held on 24 January in Lahore.

Venues

On 12 June 2018, the franchises and PCB officials in a meeting decided against the idea of having a full PSL fourth edition in Pakistan. The new PCB chairman

Ehsan Mani Ehsan Mani (Urdu: ; born 23 March 1945) is a Pakistani chartered accountant who is the former president of International Cricket Council (ICC) and former Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Early life Mani was born in Rawalpindi Pakistan in ...

announced on 15 September that tournament was to start from 14 February 2019 in UAE, and the last eight games were to be held in Pakistan along with the final that will be played on 17 March in Karachi. For the first time, four PSL matches were played in Abu Dhabi. Originally, three matches were scheduled to be played in Lahore but due to logistical and operational challenges posed by the delayed opening of Lahore airspace for commercial flights following military tensions between Pakistan and India, the matches were shifted to Karachi. Mani said that PCB had made a critical decision and the "headquarters of Pakistan cricket will be unable to host" 2019 PSL matches.

Match officials

Umpires

Faisal Afridi Faisal Afridi (born 31 December 1977) is a Pakistani cricket umpire and former cricketer. He played 53 first-class and 35 List A matches between 1998 and 2008. He is now an umpire and stood in the match between National Bank of Pakistan and Wat ...

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

* Richard Illingworth *

Ranmore Martinesz Ranmore Etholson John Martinesz (born 24 June 1967 in Colombo) is a Sri Lankan umpire and a former first-class cricketer. Martinesz played first-class cricket for the Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club. His career was short, with him makin ...

Tariq Rasheed Tariq Rasheed (born 10 March 1978) is a Pakistani former cricketer. He played in twenty first-class and twenty-two List A matches between 1996 and 2004. He is now an umpire, and stood in the match between Federally Administered Tribal Areas and ...

* Ahsan Raza *

Shozab Raza Shozab Raza (Urdu: شوزيب رضا) is Pakistani cricket umpire. Career Raza made his debut as an umpire in 2012 when he supervised a One Day International (ODI) match played between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Sharjah Cricket Association ...

Rashid Riaz Rashid Riaz (born 27 February 1976) is a Pakistani cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer. He is now an umpire and has stood in matches in the 2015–16 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He stood in his first Twenty20 International (T20I) match betwe ...

Asif Yaqoob Asif Yaqoob (born 11 November 1973) is a Pakistani cricket umpire. He has officiated in Pakistan Super League. He stood in his first Twenty20 International (T20I) match, between Pakistan and Australia on 26 October 2018. He stood in his first ...

Referees

* Mohammad Anees * Muhammad Javed * Roshan Mahanama

Promotion in media

The league was promoted on social media by the hashtag #HBLPSL due to its title sponsor, and by its official anthem # KhelDeewanoKa.

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on 14 February at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, prior to the first match of the season. It was started by the national anthems of UAE "

Ishy Bilady "" ( ar, عيشي بلادي, lit=Long Live my Country, link=no) is the national anthem of the United Arab Emirates ( ar, النشيد الوطني الإماراتي, an-Nashīd al-Waṭanī al-ʾImārātī, ). It was officially accepted as the ...

", and of Pakistan " Qaumi Taranah" as usual. It then featured a marching band, which performed Europe's " The Final Countdown". Then, British singer Marcia Barrett, from German band

Boney M. Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...

, performed her band's song " Daddy Cool". Aima Baig and Shuja Haider performed on their rendition of Nazia Hassan and Zohaib Hassan's " Disco Deewane". Then members of Junoon band performed on their "

Yaar Bina "Yaar Bina" (Urdu: یار بنا, literal English translation: "without a friend") is a song by the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon, released in April, 1997. It is the fourth track from the band's album fourth album, '' Azadi'' (1997), released o ...

", "Heerey" and "

Jazba-e-Junoon "Jazba-e-Junoon" (Urdu: جذبہ جنوں, literal English translation: "the spirit of passion") is a song by the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon. It is the thirteenth and final track from the band's album third album, '' Inquilaab'' (1996), rel ...

". The last performance included title anthem of the league's fourth season by Fawad Khan featuring

Young Desi The eleventh season of Pakistani music television series ''Coke Studio'', titled as Coke Studio: The Sound of Nation, premiered in Pakistan on 10 August 2018. Musicians Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi were announced as a new producers and directors f ...

. Then, melody of Ali Zafar's previous anthems for PSL was played, followed by fireworks. A list of artists to perform at the ceremony was officially released on 18 January, according to which American rapper

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

was also confirmed to perform, however, later he withdrew due to a technical fault in his plane's engine.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony of the league, hosted by Fakhar-e-Alam, was held at National Stadium, Karachi, on 17 March prior to the league's final match. One minute silence was observed in respect of the martyrs of Christchurch mosque shootings. Then Abrar-ul-Haq performed his song "Nach Majajan". Aima Baig and Shuja Haider once again paid tribute to Nazia Hassan by performing "

Dosti Dosti may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dosti'' (1964 film), an Indian black-and-white Hindi film. * ''Dosti'' (1971 film), a Pakistani Urdu film * '' Dosti: Friends Forever'', a 2005 Indian Hindi romantic-drama buddy film * ''Dosti'' ...

" and "Disco Deewane". Fawad Khan featuring Young Desi performed the title anthem of the league's fourth season. Sahir Ali Bagga then performed a patriotic song "Har Dil Ki Awaz". Last performance was by Junoon, who sang " Zamaane Ke Andaaz", "Khudi Ko Kar Buland", " Sayonee" and " Dil Dil Pakistan". The Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Spanish World Cup winning footballer

Carles Puyol Carles Puyol Saforcada (, ; born 13 April 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played his entire career for Barcelona. He mainly played as a central defender, but he could also play in either full-back position, mostly as a ri ...

and the cast of the upcoming Pakistani film ''

The Legend of Maula Jatt ''The Legend of Maula Jatt'' is a 2022 Pakistani Punjabi-language action drama film directed and written by Bilal Lashari. The film is an adaptation of the 1979 cult classic film ''Maula Jatt'' but it is considered neither a remake nor a seq ...

'' also appeared at the ceremony. Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and Governor Sindh

Imran Ismail Imran Ismail ( ur, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Pakistani businessman and politician from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He served as the 33rd Governor of Sindh from 27 August 2018 to 18 April 2022. Before being appointed Governor of Sindh, he was ...

also attended the final match.

Cancer awareness

International Child Hood Cancer Awareness Day was observed on 15 February with golden ribbon as a theme, while Breast Cancer Awareness Day was observed on 10 March with pink ribbon as a theme. The stadiums were also themed respectively.

Commentators

Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed batting order (cricket)#opening batsman, opening batsm ...

Bazid Khan Bazid Khan (born 25 March 1981) is a Pakistani cricket commentator and former cricketer. In the 2021 edition of ''Wisden Cricketer's Almanack'', he was named as the Schools Cricketer of the Year for his performances between 1998 and 2000. Earl ...

* Danny Morrison * Rameez Raja *

Jonty Rhodes Jonathan Neil "Jonty" Rhodes (born 27 July 1969) is a South African professional cricket commentator and former Test and One Day International cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest fielders of all time and was the first South African ...

* * Graeme Smith * Kepler Wessels * Alan Wilkins

Experts

* Brad Hogg *

Aamer Sohail Mohammad Aamer Sohail Ali ( ur, ; born 14 September 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator and former cricketer. In a playing career that spanned eighteen years, Sohail played in 195 first-class and 261 List A Limited Overs matches, includ ...

* Shaun Tait * Azhar Ali

Presenters

Zainab Abbas Zainab Abbas ( Punjabi, ; born 14 February 1988) is a Pakistani television host, sports presenter, commentator, and former makeup artist. Personal life Zainab Abbas was born in Lahore to domestic cricketer Nasir Abbas and politician Andleeb A ...

Fakhar-e-Alam Fakhar-e-Alam ( Punjabi, ur, فخر عالم; born 19 January 1976) is a Pakistani actor, TV host, video jockey, and singer, famous for introducing the bhangra-rap fusion genre of music in Pakistan. Though he is still considered a pioneer of ...

Erin Holland Erin Victoria Holland (born 21 March 1989) is an Australian singer, television host, sports presenter, model, dancer, and charity worker. She won her national title, Miss World Australia, on 20 July 2013. She has also featured as a sports prese ...

League stage

Format

The six teams all played 10 matches each and got 2 points for every win, none for a loss and 1 point for a no result. The top four teams in the group stage qualified for the play-offs.

Points table

Summary

League progression

Fixtures

The complete fixture schedule was released on 13 December 2018. On 3 March 2019, the updated schedule for Pakistan round was released. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- * ''Peshawar Zalmi's score of 20 at the end of the powerplay equalled the record low total'' ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Playoffs

Qualifier

Eliminators

Eliminator 1

Eliminator 2

Final

Awards and statistics

Most runs

* Shane Watson of

received the Green Cap.

Most wickets

* Hasan Ali of Peshawar Zalmi received the Maroon Cap.

Notes

References

External links

*
Official partner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan Super League, 2019 Domestic cricket competitions in 2018–19 2019 in Emirati cricket 2019 in Pakistani cricket 2019 in Sindh 2010s in Dubai 2010s in Karachi 21st century in Abu Dhabi Cricket in Karachi February 2019 sports events in Pakistan History of the Emirate of Sharjah March 2019 sports events in Pakistan Sport in Abu Dhabi Sport in Dubai Sport in Sharjah (city)