By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: The ninth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) is starting today in which the defending champions Lahore Qalandars will face Islamabad United.
The ninth edition will begin on Saturday at the historic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, where Qalandars and two-time champions Islamabad United will compete.
34 matches will be played in this month-long event of which the first phase matches will be played in Lahore and Multan while the second phase matches will be hosted by Karachi and Rawalpindi. Apart from this, the final match of PSL has also been hosted in Karachi this time and the final will be played at the National Stadium on March 17.
Out of the 34 matches of the event, 7 will be double headers. Karachi will host a maximum of 11 matches in the tournament, which includes qualifiers, two eliminators and the final. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium will host nine matches each, while five matches will be played in Multan.
After many years, Ali Zafar, who has sung the anthems for the first three years, has once again awakened the magic of his voice in the anthem of PSL this year and this anthem has also become immensely popular.
The colorful opening ceremony of the ninth edition of the tournament will be held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, in which Ali Zafar, Aima Baig, Arif Lohar and Noori Band will perform. The event will start at 6:30 pm with spectacular fireworks and laser show. After the colorful opening ceremony, the opening match of the match event will start at 8 pm Pakistan time.