PSL 2026 to be played from March 26 to May 3 in clash with IPL

PSL 2026 will be played from March 26 to May 3, 2026, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced on Monday, following an auction on January 8 in Islamabad where the rights for two new franchises will be on offer. The additions will make the PSL an eight-team tournament from 2026.

As opposed to 2025's PSL X - which was played from April 11 to May 25 (including a break for the cross-border confrontation between India and Pakistan) - the window for the 2026 season has been advanced slightly. But for the second year in a row, the PSL will still overlap with the IPL, which is set to run from March 26 to May 31. In 2025, the PSL had kicked off 20 days after the IPL had started on March 22.

The 11th PSL season will be the longest one yet, stretching to 39 playing days. That represents an extra week in the calendar, with previous editions usually lasting between 30 to 35 days. Though the schedule will only come once the two new teams are in place, there will be more matches than ever before.

The PCB has held a couple of roadshows this month at Lord's and in New York the past weekend, as it looks to reach out to potential investors and commercial partners ahead of an important season. The five original franchise owners decided to renew their ownership for another 10 years recently, in a boost to the league. The status of Multan Sultans, however, remains unclear. The franchise joined as the sixth team in 2018, though it soon underwent an ownership change.

The current owner, Ali Tareen, has been locked in a dispute with the PSL through the year, having criticised the league for lacking transparency and ambition. Tareen confirmed last month that he would not renew his ownership, which means technically that a new owner will need to emerge for what was, until recently, one of the league's most consistent sides.

This will be the second season in a row that the PSL will be played largely in its new April-May window. This year there will be a gap of 17 days between the end of the T20 World Cup and the start of the PSL.

Lahore Qalandars are the defending champions and are currently the PSL's most expensive franchise, and will pay around PKR 980 million (approx. USD 3.47 million) per year to the PCB in franchise fees.