2023 Pakistan Super League
2023 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 8 or, for sponsorship reasons, HBL PSL 2023) was the eighth season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. Then PCB chairman Ramiz Raja had hinted at an auction based system to replace the draft for the 2023 season but a draft was retained. The draft for the tournament was held on 15 December in Karachi. A total of 36 foreign players were picked alongside local players. Lahore Qalandars were the defending champions. The tournament was to be played between 13 February to 19 March 2023, However, on 16 March 2023, PCB moved forward the final by a day to 18 March 2023 due to bad weather forecast predicted in Lahore, with 19 and 20 March set as reserve days respectively. In the final, Lahore Qalandars defeated Multan Sultans by a minor margin of 1 run to become the first team in the PSL to defend their title. Squads

In November 2022, the retained player's list was announced. Squads for the tournament were finalized on 15 December with the final draft. Venues
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced plans to hold matches in Multan, Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi during the 2023 season. Lahore and Karachi were only the venues in 2022. The Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar was declared unfit to hold any matches in the tournament. Quetta's Bugti Stadium was later added to the list of PSL venues but was removed shortly after due to logistical reasons. The PCB considered moving the matches in Lahore and Rawalpindi to Karachi after a dispute with the Punjab government over the cost of security arrangements but did not do so after the dispute was resolved. Match officials 
On 7 February, PCB announced the list of officials for league stage matches which included 3 Elite Panel of ICC Umpires out of 14. Umpires 

Ahsan Raza
Aleem Dar
Alex Wharf
Asif Yaqoob
Faisal Afridi
Martin Saggers
Michael Gough
Mohammad Asif
Nasir Hussain
Rashid Riaz
Richard Illingworth
Ruchira Palliyaguruge
Shozab Raza
Tariq Rasheed

Referees 

Ali Naqvi
Iftikhar Ahmed
Muhammad Javed
Mohammad Anees
Roshan Mahanama

Marketing 

The season's logo variant was unveiled on 26 January with the hashtags #HBLPSL8 and #SabSitarayHamaray being used for promotion on social media; latter being the official anthem. Previously, the slogan for this season had been 'Soch Hai Apki' but was later changed. Trophy 
The trophy for this season, named Supernova, was unveiled on 9 February 2023. It was entirely made in Pakistan by Lahore-based Mahfooz Jewellers. League stage

Format 
Each team played every other team twice in the league stage of the tournament in a double round robin. Following the group stage, the top four teams qualified for the playoff stage of the tournament. Points table 

The top 4 teams qualified for the playoffs. Advances to Qualifier. Advances to Eliminator 1. Notes:
 C = Champions; 
 R = Runner-up;
 (x) = Position at the end of the tournament

Summary

League progression

Fixtures 
The PCB announced the fixtures on 20 January 2023. An exhibition match was played between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators before the start of league at the Bugti Stadium and was won by the Gladiators by 3 runs. Karachi and Multan

Lahore and Rawalpindi

Playoffs

Qualifier

Eliminators

Eliminator 1

Eliminator 2

Final

Awards and statistics 
Abbas Afridi, the leading wicket taker of the tournament, was awarded with the Fazal Mahmood Cap, and Mohammad Rizwan, the leading runs scorer, was awarded with the Hanif Mohammad Cap. Most runs 

 Source: ESPNcricinfo

Most wickets 

 Source: ESPNcricinfo

End of season awards 

Source: Geo Super, CricTracker

Team of the tournament 

Source: PCB, GeoSuperTV

References

External links
 League home at ESPNcricinfo
	

2023 Pakistan Super League
2023 in Pakistani cricket
February 2023 events in Pakistan
March 2023 events in Pakistan