The Pakistan Super League has parked itself at an awkward crossroads. After ten seasons of straight-forward drafts, league bosses are toying with a hybrid model – half auction, half draft – neatly (or awkwardly) labelled a “drauction”. With Hyderabad and Sialkot arriving for the 2026 campaign, the question of how to assemble squads suddenly feels rather less simple.
No firm call was made at Friday’s governing-council meeting in Lahore, though a decision is promised before the weekend is out. Representatives from all eight current franchises – the PCB is standing in for Multan Sultans while that club is between owners – listened, argued and eventually agreed to form a smaller working group to knock the issue into shape.
Player retentions are the thornier bit. Existing sides want to hang on to proven names; the two newcomers understandably prefer a shallow retention list so the best talent is still up for grabs. One team official privately admitted the room was “nowhere near consensus”. The final say, if it comes to that, rests with the PCB chairman, but administrators are keen to exhaust the polite-discussion route first.
The league did release a short statement, confirming only the basics: “During the meeting, detailed discussions were held on various matters including the schedule of the PSL, player retentions, adoption of the player auction or a unique combination of auction and draft termed as ‘drauction’ and the option of opening direct signings. It was decided that the PSL will kick off on Thursday, 26 March as the fans, players and stakeholders look forward to entering the New Era of the league.”
That same note explained the next steps: “The meeting was adjourned with the constitution of a working group to meet on Saturday to deliberate further on agenda items, where after the governing council meeting will be reconvened immediately as necessary.”
Money, inevitably, is somewhere near the surface. Hyderabad and Sialkot fetched healthy sums at last month’s franchise auction, emboldening some owners to push for an open bidding system. Others prefer the relative predictability – and cost control – of the established draft. A drauction might spread the difference: marquee slots auctioned, the rest drafted. Whether the hybrid produces clarity or confusion is another matter.
There is also unfinished business in Multan. The PCB had planned to run the Sultans itself after Ali Tareen’s exit, then reversed course once the newer teams’ price tags came in. The board will now float the franchise to private bidders, with technical submissions due by month-end. Only once that ownership is settled can the league finalise the commercial model that underpins everything else.
Plenty still to iron out, then. Yet with a March start date locked in and a working group sweating the details, the PSL hierarchy believe they’ve given themselves just enough time – as long as the drauction debate doesn’t drag on into extra overs.
