The tenth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) ended with a stylish victory by the Lahore Qalandars, with Zimbabwean Test all-rounder Sikandar Raza hitting two boundaries in the final over to achieve the win. Quetta Gladiators, the League’s top team, failed to win their second title, while Lahore Qalandars got their third in four years.

The League completed its 10 years with a boundary on the penultimate ball of the final, what else would one want?

The tenth edition of the PSL X was not all smooth. It did experience some challenges. An unusual scheduling shift, commencing later than its traditional February-March window. This change was mainly due to preparations and scheduling for the Champions Trophy, which required the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to move the tournament to April for the first time.

The new dates meant that PSL X directly overlapped with the Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the most high-profile and lucrative T20 tournaments globally. Consequently, several foreign players found themselves in a challenging position. Many cricketers with commitments in both leagues were forced to make tough choices. All things did fall in place at the end, but the main thing was grabbing the limelight from IPL, and it was no mean achievement for PSL.

Six teams competed as in the previous edition, but last year’s runners-up, Multan Sultans, had a disappointing season. Muhammad Rizwan was not up to the mark, despite scoring a century. The team had never gelled as a unit, which affected the performance.

There were several changes in captaincy for other teams. Babar Azam continued to lead Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United remained under the leadership of Shadab Khan, while Shaheen Shah Afridi continued to lead Lahore Qalandars. However, Karachi Kings saw a significant shift, with Australia’s David Warner replacing Shan Masood as captain. Quetta Gladiators also changed, appointing Saud Shakeel to replace Rilee Rossouw.

Initially set to run across four cities in Pakistan, i.e., Karachi, Lahore, Pindi and Multan, from 11 April to 18 May 2025, the league was postponed for a few days due to the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict. On 8 May, a match in Rawalpindi was delayed following an attempted drone attack near the stadium during the India–Pakistan conflict. PCB announced plans to shift the PSL to UAE for safety, but after a ceasefire on 10 May, the PCB decided to resume after losing eight days. PCB reached out to foreign players off-boarded to Dubai, and most of them returned. The entire playoff stage was also moved to Lahore, and the PSL continued from 17 to 25 May.

Most of the matches, 15 to be exact, were played in Lahore, 11 in Rawalpindi, 5 in Karachi, and 3 in Multan. One home match in Multan was relocated to Lahore due to extreme weather and logistical challenges.

Like always, each team played every other team twice in a double round robin format, with the top four teams in the points table advancing to the playoffs. Babar’s Zalmi and Rizwan’s Multan Sultan were left behind. Babar was victorious in four of the ten matches Peshawar Zalmi played, while Rizwan’s only win came against the eventual winners, Lahore Qalandars.

The largest margin of victory for PSLX came in the match between Babar’s Zalmi and Rizwan’s Sultans, the left-outs. Zalmi scored 227 runs in their innings, with just two runs each contributed by Saim Ayub and Babar Azam. Due to pacer Ali Raza’s four wickets, Multan Sultans were bundled for 107. Usman Khan was the top scorer with 44.

The other most considerable margin was when Quetta Gladiators defeated Islamabad United by 109 runs. Rilee Rossouw and Hassan Nawaz scored hundreds in the match, where Quetta managed 263 runs, the tournament’s highest. Rossouw and Hassan were involved in a 134-run partnership for the third wicket; Rilee’s innings had six while Hassan’s innings had nine sixes, the most in PSL X.

Two of Quetta Gladiators’ matches were close encounters. They won by two wickets against Multan Sultans and by the same margin against Islamabad United. Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United met again in the Qualifier, where Quetta won by 30 runs. Lahore Qalandars, who limped to the playoffs, had the best last three games. They defeated Karachi Kings in Eliminator 1 and knocked out Islamabad United from Eliminator 2 by 95 runs.

Quetta and Lahore could not face each other in one of the two round-robin matches. The first one was dominated by Lahore Qalandars, when Fakhar Zaman’s 67 and Sam Billings’ fastest 50 of the tournament, off just 19 balls, helped them secure a dominant 79-run victory. The second match was abandoned by rain, with only 11.3 overs of play possible.

The PSL X final was a chance for Quetta Gladiators to avenge the defeat; however, due to the home advantage and Shaheen Afridi’s shrewd captaincy, the final was a spectacle. Batting first, Quetta amassed 201 runs, setting Lahore the target of getting the highest total in any T20 final. Sikandar Raza, who had just a day earlier represented Zimbabwe in a Test match in England, reached the stadium moments before the toss and was influential in the win. In the dying moments, Sikandar changed the course of the game by partnering with Kushal Perera to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Hassan Nawaz’s 76 and Faheem Ashraf’s 28 off 8 were unsuccessful for the runners-up.

The landmark edition of the HBL PSL saw the champions awarded USD 500,000, while the runners-up received USD 200,000. Following the tournament’s conclusion, the Team of the Tournament was announced, and Shaheen Shah Afridi was honoured as captain. He also earned the Fazal Mahmood Cap as the highest wicket-taker, claiming 19 wickets. Islamabad United’s Sahibzada Farhan, the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 449 runs in 12 matches, earned the Hanif Mohammad Cap and a place in the team. Lahore Qalandar’s Sikandar Raza, who scored 254 runs and took 10 wickets in 11 matches, was there with fellow Qalandar Fakhar Zaman, who had a tally of 439 runs across 13 games. Hasan Nawaz, the Best Batter of the Tournament, also joined these players. He scored 399 runs in 12 matches, including a century. All-rounder Faheem Ashraf (163 runs, 17 wickets) and spinner Abrar Ahmed (17 wickets in 12 games), his teammates from Quetta, also found themselves in the coveted team.

Karachi Kings contributed three players: captain David Warner (368 runs in 11 matches), opener James Vince (378 runs, including a century and three fifties), and pacer Hasan Ali (17 wickets in 10 games). Emerging Peshawar Zalmi pacer Ali Raza also cut, finishing with 12 wickets in nine games. Khushdil Shah, with 253 runs and seven wickets in 11 matches, was named the 12th man. Muhammad Haris of Peshawar Zalmi, who had 12 dismissals as a wicket-keeper, was unlucky to make the team, as was his skipper, Babar Azam (288 runs), and Mohammad Rizwan (367 runs).

This season ends the ten-year agreement establishing the Pakistan Super League with six teams, with HBL Pakistan as the primary sponsor, and with the current TV and media rights. The PCB has announced that the league will expand to eight teams starting in 2026, which is a big step forward. Fans are hopeful that with more teams, the tournament will become even more exciting and the quality of cricket will improve.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 31st, 2025