PSL 2026 Schedule: Dates, Venues and New Format Revealed

Pakistan Super League will begin its 2026 season on March 26. It is said to overlap with the Indian Premier League for the first time.

The 11th edition of the Pakistan Super League will run from March 26 to May 3. The event will take place directly alongside the Indian Premier League scheduled around the same period.

The upcoming season will also see an expansion in the league’s structure as the number of PSL teams will increase to eight from six.Major PSL Teams Sign New Long-Term Agreements

It reflects the board’s push to widen the league’s footprint and commercial appeal. Despite the expansion, each team will be playing a minimum of 10 matches during the tournament.

A total of 44 matches will be played across the 39-day window which has been allocated for the event. Matches will be hosted at five venues across Pakistan.

The venues included Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, and Faisalabad. Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad will host Pakistan Super League matches for the first time since the league’s inception as PCB has added a new city to the tournament’s hosting roster.

In previous editions, the PSL featured six teams which played 10 matches each in a double-league format.

However, the inclusion of two additional teams in the 2026 season led to rethink the competition structure because a full double-league format would result in significantly increasing the number of fixtures.

According to reports, PSL management has considered playing the tournament on a double-league basis, resulting in 60 matches.

PCB has ruled out that option due to time constraints, as only a 39-day window was available for the league’s 11th edition.

So, the Pakistan Cricket Board ultimately approved a revised format aimed at accommodating the expanded lineup within the limited timeframe.

Under the new structure, the tournament will be played in two distinct phases to maintain competitive balance to control the total number of matches.

The league will be played on a single-league basis in the first phase. Each of the eight teams will face every other team once to ensure all sides play seven matches during the competition.

This phase will ensure the overall standings to move competition into the next round.

The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four In the second phase as each team will playing three additional matches within its group. It will result in 12 matches being played during this stage. Combined with the first phase, this will ensure every team to completes 10 league matches.

Following the completion of the Super Four-style group stage, the top two teams will qualify for the playoffs. The new format narrows the path to the knockout rounds to increase the stakes of each match in the second phase of the competition.

A total of four playoff matches are scheduled which included the final, under the revised structure which PCB has approved. According to the board, the format strikes a balance between expansion, competitiveness, and logistical feasibility within the available window.