The 2026 Pakistan Super League will start and finish in Lahore, the PCB confirmed late on Monday. Gaddafi Stadium hosts the opener on 26 March and the final on 3 May, with 4 May kept free in case of rain. It is the fourth time in five seasons the trophy will be decided in the country’s cricketing heart-land.
Eight teams, not the usual six, means a busier itinerary: 44 matches spread across Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad and Peshawar. Lahore handles 15 of them, Rawalpindi 11, so 26 games – almost 60% – sit on the M-2 corridor.
“We wanted to keep travel sensible while still giving new cities a taste of PSL,” tournament director Usman Wahla said in the PCB release. “Rawalpindi’s crowds were outstanding last year, so the extra matches felt fair.”
Faisalabad joins the roster with seven fixtures at Iqbal Stadium; Peshawar’s Imran Khan Cricket Stadium, still under renovation for parts of the spring, receives only one: Zalmi v Pindiz on 28 March. Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, gets just six games this time, a move the board insists is logistical rather than political. “Schedules are a tight puzzle,” a PCB official noted. “Night-time flights from Karachi into north-ern venues are limited, so something had to give.”
More teams forced a format tweak. Each side plays ten round-robin matches, but not everyone meets twice. Instead, every team faces seven opponents once and three opponents twice, with marquee pairings – Lahore v Karachi, Islamabad v Rawalpindi – protected home and away. The change trims dead rubbers yet keeps the calendar inside six weeks.
The first qualifier will be in Rawalpindi; both eliminators and the final shift to Lahore. Playoff tickets are expected to hit the market in late February.
Lahore Qalandars arrive as triple champions, having lifted the trophy in three of the last four editions. Captain Shaheen Afridi kept the praise measured: “Records help confidence but not results. We start on zero points like everyone else.”
Analysts agree the jump to eight sides should deepen the local talent pool, though balance could take time. Former Pakistan opener Bazid Khan cautioned, “A broader league is good news, but fast-tracking two new squads means some rough edges. Fans will need patience.”
The PCB says broadcast details and match timings will follow “shortly”. For now, supporters know the road starts – and ends – on Ferozepur Road.
