Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises will be allowed to retain a maximum of seven players, including their direct signing, for the 12th edition of the tournament, but any side exercising the full retention allowance will have to release a player from the highest price tier of the previous auction into the general player pool.

The provision, unanimously approved by all eight franchises at a tournament operations workshop at Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, is among the key regulations finalised ahead of the PSL 12 player auction scheduled for January 23.

The mandatory release of a top-tier player is aimed at ensuring the availability of elite talent to all franchises during the auction, while allowing teams to preserve a significant portion of their existing squads.

The deadline for player retentions has been set for January 13, ten days before the auction. The timing will allow franchises to assess performances in the National T20 Silver tournament, which will have concluded, and the ongoing National T20 Gold competition before making their final decisions.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the arrangement would provide a “live, data-driven link” between domestic cricket and the PSL, giving players performing in the National T20 competitions an opportunity to attract franchise attention.

A domestic player in form during the National T20 Gold tournament could, according to the PCB, “force his way into franchise thinking in real time”.

The auction, which will be only the second in PSL history, will operate under a salary cap of Rs45 crore for each franchise. The cap will rise to Rs50.5 crore for a franchise that makes a direct signing for PSL 12, retains its direct signing from the previous season, or opts for both.

All franchises will also be required to spend a minimum of Rs36.5 crore on their squads.

The window for direct signings will remain open until November 23, 2026. Each franchise will be permitted to directly sign one marquee player who did not feature in either PSL 10 or PSL 11.

The regulations were finalised during a workshop chaired by PSL chief executive Salman Naseer, with all eight franchises reaching unanimous agreement after reviewing the auction rules clause by clause.

Discussions also covered direct signings, player retentions, trade windows, squad sizes and salary caps.

“What made today remarkable was not just what was agreed, it was how it was agreed,” Naseer said in a statement.

“Every franchise engaged with complete openness, the Auction rules were worked through line by line, and we finished with unanimous buy-in across all eight sides,” he added.

Naseer said the retention deadline had deliberately been aligned with the National T20 competitions to give domestic performers a genuine opportunity to influence franchise squad selections through their performances.

The PCB said more major announcements concerning PSL 12 would be made in the coming weeks.