The Cricketer runs through all the details ahead of the start of the PSL, with Multan Sultans the reigning champions
The Pakistan Super League is played between six teams: Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalanders, Multan Sultans, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.
Matches will take place between January 27 and February 27, with 34 matches to be played.
The T20 competition features a round-robin group stage, with teams facing one another twice, before the top two sides compete in a qualifier with the winner going straight into the final.
The third and fourth-placed teams go into an eliminator, with the winner playing the team that lost the qualifier for the second final berth.
The games will be played across two stadiums in Pakistan, with 19 matches being held at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium and 15 at Karachi's National Stadium.
Despite topping the table through the round-robin phase, Islamabad United couldn't carry on their form to win the title. Instead, Multan Sultans came through for their first trophy.
They were one of four teams to finish the group stage with 10 points but had the best net run rate of the lot.
From there, they improved, peaking in the final against Peshawar Zalmi, with half centuries for Sohaib Maqsood and Rilee Rossouw after Mohammad Rizwan - the format's leading player in the world for 2021 - and Shan Masood had set a platform.
Islamabad United topped the league phase but failed to make the final of last year's tournament (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)
Islamabad United
Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Azam Khan, Paul Stirling, Colin Munro, Marchant de Lange, Muhammad Akhlaq, Reece Topley, Danish Aziz, Zafar Gohar, Mubasir Khan, M. Zeeshan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ather Mehmood
Supplementary draft: Musa Khan, Zahir Khan
Partial replacement: Mohammad Huraira
Karachi Kings
Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Amir, Joe Clarke, Sharjeel Khan, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Ilyas, Chris Jordan, Lewis Gregory, Umaid Asif, Tom Abell (injured, replaced by Ian Cockbain), Rohail Nazir, Muhammad Imran, Faisal Akram, Qasim Akram, Talha Ahsan, Romario Shepherd (unvailable, replaced by Tom Lammonby)
Supplementary round: Sahibzada Farhan, Jordan Thompson
Partial replacement: Mohammad Taha Khan
Lahore Qalandars
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ahmed Daniyal, Fakhar Zaman, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Dean Foxcroft, Zaman Khan, Maaz Khan, Samit Patel, Syed Faridoun
Supplementary round: Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Akif Javed
Partial replacement: Ben Dunk, Matthew Potts
Multan Sultans
Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw, Sohaib Maqsood, Imran Tahir, Shan Masood, Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Tim David, Odean Smith, Rumman Raees, Asif Afridi, Anwar Ali, Rovman Powell, Imran Khan Sr., Abbas Afridi, Amir Azmat, Blessing Muzarabani, Ihsanullah
Supplementary round: David Willey, Rizwan Hussain
Partial replacements: Johnson Charles, Dominic Drakes
Peshawar Zalmi
Wahab Riaz, Liam Livingstone, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Haider Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Hussain Talat, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Qadir, Salman Irshad, Arshad Iqbal (Covid replacement: Ammad Butt), Sameen Gul, Kamran Akmal (Covid replacement: Imam-ul-Haq), Sirajuddin, Mohammad Amir Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Haris
Supplementary round: Mohammad Umer, Sohail Khan
Partial replacements: Matt Parkinson, Pat Brown
Quetta Gladiators
James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Jason Roy, James Faulkner, Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Ben Duckett, Khurram Shehzad, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Muhammad Ashar Qureshi, Noor Ahmad, Ahsan Ali, Luke Wood
Supplementary round: Ghulam Mudassar, Dan Lawrence
Partial replacements: Will Smeed, Ali Imran, Shimron Hetmyer
Karachi Kings were champions in 2020 (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has approved 25 per cent attendance for Karachi-leg matches, which will be played at the National Stadium from January 27 to February 7.
Around 8,000 spectators will be allowed inside the venue each matchday, subject to certain provisions.
All those above the age of 12 years must be fully vaccinated, valid vaccination certificates must be shown at point of entry, wearing of masks inside the stadium is mandatory, and anyone not abiding by these rules risks ejection.
A decision on the Lahore-leg games has yet to be made (as of January 26).
Karachi Kings: 10/3
Peshawar Zalmi: 7/2
Multan Sultans: 4/1
Lahore Qalanders: 4/1
Quetta Gladiators: 9/2
Islamabad United: 9/2
In Pakistan, games will be on A Sports and PTV Sports.
In the UK games will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket (Sky 404, Virgin 504).
In Australia, the games will be shown on Foxtel, Fox Sports and Kayo.
In India, Star Sports carries the broadcast rights.
In the Caribbean, Flow Sports hold the broadcast rights, with Willow TV showing the tournament in North America.
SuperSport will provide coverage in South Africa, while Sky Sport will show the matches in New Zealand.
The PCB has partnered with ICC TV and tapmad TV to broadcast PSL7 in: Andorra, Antarctica, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bouvet Island, Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos Island, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, East Timor, Ecuador, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Faroe islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guyana, Heard Island, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgystan, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Caledonia, North Korea, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Vietnam and Venezuela.
The commentary line-up includes Nick Knight, David Gower, Mike Haysman, Pommie Mbangwa, Danny Morrison, Bazid Khan, Waqar Younis, Urooj Mumtaz, Sana Mir, Marina Iqbal and Tariq Saeed. Erin Holland, Zainab Abbas and Sikandar Bakht will present the live coverage.
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