COVID-19-hit Pakistan Super League rescheduled to June 2021, confirms PCB

The COVID-19-hit 6th edition of the Pakistan Super League is likely to kick off in June 2021, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Thursday (March 11). In an official release, PCB confirmed that the parties involved are aiming to conduct the remainder of the 20 fixtures in June.

The matches will be played during the 43-day window between Pakistan's two international series. The Men in Green are scheduled to return from the Zimbabwe tour in the second week of May and will fly to England in the final week of June. By announcing the fixtures for June, PCB has avoided a clash between PSL's and IPL's fixtures.

The 14th edition of the Indian T20 league is scheduled to be played from April 9 to May 30. Had PSL started in May, the IPL-bound players with PSL contracts would have had to choose between the two tournaments. However, a couple of players might still miss one or two PSL fixtures if the tournament starts on June 1 or 2.

In 2020, PCB had organised the second-round matches of PSL after the end of IPL 2020. The IPL 13 ended on November 10 while the last 4 matches of PSL were played from November 14 to 17.

Why was PSL 6 postponed?

The 6th edition of PSL had to be postponed after 7 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in different camps. A COVID-19 case and two bio-bubble breach cases were already confirmed before the start of the tournament. The COVID-19 cases continued to rise as the tournament progressed. Tom Banton and Fawad Ahmed were also among players who tested positive for the infection.

PCB had no other option but to postpone the league. Last year as well, the tournament came to an abrupt stoppage after Alex Hales showed COVID-19 symptoms.