PSL Betting

The Pakistan Super League is about to return and although there are a few hurdles to cross (COVID, unavailability of players, travel restrictions), the tournament should hopefully be able to go on without any problems. The PSL is easily one of the best T20 tournaments that we have around the world. The quality of cricket is always superb and the draft system ensures that the teams are always closely matched. 

This is something that you need to remember from a betting perspective. The draft allows teams that finished at the bottom the first pick to try and strengthen their teams and so the balance of power can shift quite quickly from one season to another. 

Let us try and look at the teams and find some betting value to take advantage of.

PSL 2022 Betting Preview

PSL 2022 Winner

Favorites: Karachi Kings (4.33)

All the best betting sites (Betway, Parimatch, Casumo) are offering the shortest odds on the Karachi Kings to win PSL 2022. The Karachi Kings won the tournament in 2020 and were a real threat in PSL 2021 as well, however, they finished fourth after the table stage and ended up losing the Eliminator. 

Babar Azam finished PSL 2021 as the leading run-getter and Sharjeel Khan made a big impact as well. The rest of the batting struggled and we don’t think they have done anything to address that this season either. 

Joe Clarke, Mohammad Nabi, and some promising all-rounders are present in the squad but we just don’t think that the Karachi Kings are going to be able to win by just depending on their opening pair to score runs in every match. 

The bowling attack for the Karachi Kings is quite good but that seems to be the standard for every team. Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, and Romario Shepherd are in the squad and will keep the Kings competitive but we do think the depth in bowling resources is also a bit affected. 

We just do not see the value in betting on the Karachi Kings at the moment. 

Our Pick: Peshawar Zalmi (5.50)

Peshawar Zalmi came very close to winning the title last season and lost in the final. We think they have the squad to mount another serious challenge this time around and quite possibly end up winning. 

Most PSL teams have a strong bowling attack, as does Peshawar Zalmi, however, not every team has the depth needed in the batting to mount a serious challenge over the course of an entire season. 

This is where we believe that Peshawar Zalmi can distinguish itself from the other teams. 

Haider Ali, Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik, Rahmatullah Gurbaz, Liam Livingstone, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are all a part of the squad. This is some serious batting talent to have at your disposal. 

The bowling lineup is led by Wahab Riaz, Usman Qadir, and Arshad Iqbal. 

If Peshawar Zalmi can get off to a strong start, we think it could be the team to beat in PSL 2022.

About the PSL

The Pakistan Super League is a professional Twenty20 league that is based in Lahore, Pakistan. This league was formed towards the end of 2015, during which a contract was signed to keep it going for a minimum of 10 years.

The Pakistan Cricket Board administers the PSL, and six teams compete in the league. Despite being based in Pakistan, the first season was not played in the country. What’s more, not all of the league’s teams are owned by Pakistani interests, and there is also a relatively large percentage of non-Pakistani players in the league.

Typically, Pakistani players dominate top-flight cricket, but surprisingly for a league based in Pakistan, that is not the case with the PSL. It is a very diverse league, and therefore attracts a lot of attention from fans worldwide.

However the Pakistani politicians are manouvering to make it more of a domestic success, and next year they plan to have very match played at home.

Format

There are only six teams in the Pakistan Super League, and a draft system is used for each of these teams to sign players. This system is a little different from systems used in other major cricket leagues and bears a closer resemblance to the draft system used in major American sports such as the NFL. This means that players are assigned a draft number, which reflects the round in which they will become available. The teams then choose one player per round, with the better players generally being available during the early rounds. This system eliminates the need for high-priced auctions.

The PSL season runs between the months of February and March, with each team playing matches in double round robin format. This means that all teams play each other twice

The top four teams with the best record qualify for the playoffs and culminates in the championship game, the PSL Cup Final.

The playoff system gives first and second place an advantage over third and fourth place. Illustrated below:

How the winner of the PSL is determined. Source:wikipedia

Teams

As mentioned earlier the PSL consists of six teams:

• Islamabad United
• Karachi Kings
• Lahore Qalandars
• Multan Sultans
• Peshawar Zalmi
• Quetta Gladiators

History

The Pakistan Super League was announced in September 2015, with the first season beginning in early 2016. Former Pakistan cricket captains Rameez Raja and Wasim Akram, who are well respected throughout the country, became ambassadors for the league early on, and are due to remain so until at least 2018.

Although the league’s five teams represent Pakistan cities, it was decided to host the league in the United Arab Emirates, where the Pakistan national team had been stationed following attacks on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. The Pakistan Super League was a very diverse league from the outset, with nearly a dozen different countries represented by the players of the five teams.

According to the Pakistan Cricket Board, there was no shortage of interest in the league’s individual franchises, and within a month of announcing the Pakistan Super League, they began accepting offers for the five teams. The most money was paid by ARY Media Group, a holding company that is based in Dubai but is owned by a Pakistani businessman. They paid $26 million for the Karachi Knights, a price that reflects the fact that Karachi is the largest and most populated city in the world, and one that should not be short of fans.

A Qatar based company paid a little less for the Lahore Qalanders, based in Lahore, and the least amount of money was paid for the Quetta Gladiators, which is owned by Nadeem Omar. At $15 million, the Islamabad United franchise was far from the most expensive, yet it was they who won the first season of the Pakistan Super League, beating the Quetta Gladiators in a final that was staged at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

All franchises were purchased for 10 years.

On June first 2017, Schön Properties bought PCB Multan for a of $5.2 million per year becoming the most expensive team of the PSL. However, on 12 November 2018, its rights were terminated by PCB due to payment issues. PCB invited bids and resold the "6th team" to Ali Tareen consortium after a successful bid of $6.35 million for 7 years on 20th December 2017.

Peshawar Zalmi were the 2017 PSL Champions, having defeated Quetta Gladiators in Lahore on 5 March 2017. The current champions are Islamabad United, who won the title on 25 March 2018 in Karachi.

Streaming PSL

There has been a lot of controversy regarding TV rights in cricket games, as is so often the case. However, in Pakistan you can watch live games from the Pakistan Super League on YouTube. Typically, even highlights of games are quick to be pulled from this popular video site, with the people who posted them being slapped with a copyright notice, but the league seems to be embracing live streaming instead of doing all they can to stop it.

Also last year bet365 streamed every match for free, to its users. More about that here