The schedule of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2018 was announced recently; the third edition of the Twenty20 (T20) cricket league will kick-start from February 22 and is scheduled to end on March 25. The month-long tournament will see a total of 34 matches being played amongst six teams – Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators, and new entrant Multan Sultans – one more than in previous five seasons. The tournament will see its first expansion since its inception in 2015.

The T20 tournament will see a lot of T20 specialists – Andre Russell, Alex Hales, Luke Ronchi, Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Shakib Al Hasan, and Jason Roy – trying to make their mark in the shortest format of the game. A lot of Pakistan’s yesteryear star players – Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, and Mohammad Sami – will also be featuring in different teams of the tournament.

Cities of Dubai, and Sharjah in UAE; Lahore, and Karachi in Pakistan are the host cities that will see a lot of national and international players compete on a global level. The PSL 2018 will be played as per the double round-robin format with United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan being the host countries; the top four teams will then qualify for the playoffs.

Just as it has happened in previous PSL seasons, the top two teams on the top points table will first face-off in a Qualifier – the winner is a direct entrant in the Final. The losing team in the first Qualifier will face the winner of the first Eliminator and then the winner will be the second entrant in the Final. The PSL Qualifier will be played on March 18 in Dubai. The two Eliminators in the play-off stage will take place on March 20 and March 21 in Lahore. The PSL 2018 Final will take place in at National Stadium, Karachi on March 25.

Time Table of PSL 2018 Match Schedule, Time, Venue, and Participating Teams:

Pakistan Super League 2018 Timetable

The third edition of Pakistan Super League will see a pool of international players play in the coveted T20 league in Pakistan. A lot of international veterans – Brendon McCullum, Kumar Sangakkara, Dwayne Smith, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson, and Albie Morkel – will also be adding glamour to the PSL 2018 tournament. American Pop Singer Jason Derulo, Abida Parveen, Ali Zafar and Shehzad Roy are few prominent celebrities who will perform in the Pakistan Super League 2018 Opening Ceremony. Stay tuned with Latestly, for all the latest updates about Pakistan Super League T20 Tournament 2018 here.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 14, 2018 03:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).