Since its inception in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has set a benchmark for sponsorship rights and players’ salaries. Its huge popularity is only second to the 50-over World Cup among cricket events, helping its ever-growing brand value reach INR 6,93,89,46,00,000 in 2022. The successful IPL franchise T20 cricket model has given rise to leagues all across the globe, including the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The T20 franchise league in Pakistan has emerged among the top brands, with an estimated value of INR 27,33,12,62,970 in 2022. Incidentally, the brand value of PSL puts it ahead of Big Bash League (BBL) as it has a value of INR 25,68,72,51,870 more than its Australian counterpart.
Comparatively, the PSL is a fledgling model, with six franchises in the fray in comparison to the bigger 10-team league that the IPL offers since 2022. The PSL model is still drawing inspiration from IPL as it has a draft model to decide the salary and franchise of the players. The draft model limits the per-season salary of the players to Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, Emerging, and Supplementary. The highest-paid Platinum category restricts the players’ annual fee to INR 1,39,42,076 per season, in which the top T20 players are included. This is one of the prime reasons why foreign players are more inclined towards the IPL due to its lucrative pay through the auction.
The highest-paid players in the PSL include Pakistan captain Babar Azam, pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi, and prolific opener Mohammad Rizwan. The Platinum category for the highest-paid players in the league has the likes of overseason players like Sam Billings, Tymal Mills, Matthew Wade, Imran Tahir, Joshua Little, and Bhanuka Rajapaksa. Each of these players earns a per-match salary of INR 13,94,207. The lowest-paid players in PSL, meanwhile, fall under the Emerging Category. The players under this category earn INR 6,21,241 per season and a match fee of INR 62,124.
In the IPL, the highest-paid player and England all-rounder Sam Curran fetches INR 18,50,00,000 per season from Punjab Kings. He earns INR 1,3214,285 per match. The second highest-paid player Cameron Green makes INR 17,50,00,000 from the Mumbai Indians per season, raking up INR 1,25,00,000 per match. The third highest-paid player KL Rahul, makes INR 17,00,00,000 per season and INR 1,21,42,857 per match. Meanwhile, the lowest-paid players in the IPL, like Duan Jansen and Prerak Mankad, make INR 20,00,000. Their per-match fee is INR 142,857.
Overall, the fee for the highest-paid player in the IPL is 18x higher, while that of the lowest-paid is 3x more.
