All eight PSL franchises approve PSL 12 auction and retention rules
The eight Pakistan Super League franchises unanimously approved the operational framework for PSL 12, the league said. It covers retention rules, auction regulations, squad structures and salary caps.
- All eight franchises unanimously approved the PSL 12 framework at a workshop at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
- Retention deadline is January 13, 2027; the player auction is on January 23.
- Salary cap is Rs450m, rising to Rs505m with a direct signing; minimum spend is Rs365m.
All eight Pakistan Super League franchises unanimously approved the operational framework for PSL 12, the league said on Friday. The framework covers retention rules, auction regulations, squad structures and salary caps.
The agreements were reached at a tournament operations workshop at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium, led by PSL Chief Executive Salman Naseer. ProPakistani had reported earlier that the workshop would also cover the tournament schedule, operational matters and direct signings.
The player retention deadline is January 13, 2027. The player auction is scheduled for January 23, which gives franchises ten days to finalise their squads. The retention deadline was aligned with the National T20 competition, whose Silver tournament is complete and Gold tournament is underway.
Each franchise may retain a maximum of seven players, including its direct signing. Teams that use the full retention allowance must release one player from the highest price category of the previous auction into the general pool.
Each team has a salary cap of Rs450m for the auction. The cap rises to Rs505m for franchises that make a direct signing for PSL 12, retain their previous season's direct signing, or do both. Franchises must spend a minimum of Rs365 million.
The direct-signing window remains open until November 23, 2026. Each franchise may sign one marquee player who did not feature in PSL 10 or PSL 11. Daily Pakistan, citing Jang, reported that only foreign players are eligible under this route.
Salman Naseer said: "What made today remarkable was not just what was agreed, it was how it was agreed." He also said: "Every franchise engaged with complete openness, the auction rules were worked through line by line, and we finished with unanimous buy-in across all eight sides."
PSL 12 is scheduled to run from March 18 to May 2, 2027 with eight teams. The window was finalised after consultations at the PSL Governing Council meeting in London on September 1, 2026. The league said further major announcements about PSL 12 will be made in the coming weeks.
Why it matters
The rules determine which players each team can keep and sign, shaping the squads Pakistani fans will see in the next PSL season.
