IPL 2026: Players’ switch from PSL to IPL reinforced the top league’s better product and platform

Mumbai, March 27 (IANS) Though they are organised in neighbouring countries and in the same time frame, the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) are worlds apart when it comes to their potential, revenues, popularity, and influence.

But they were both dragged onto the same page in the last few days, with a couple of players switching their royalties from PSL teams to IPL franchises, preferring the bigger platform that is allowing late replacement players because some of their already contracted personnel have withdrawn from the upcoming 19th edition because of various reasons, including injuries.

Blessing Muzarabani of Zimbabwe, Dasun Shanaka of Sri Lanka, Spencer Johnson of Australia, and Gudakesh Motie of the West Indies are the players who have all rescinded their PSL contracts and joined IPL instead, much to the annoyance of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

Muzarabani, who has represented Zimbabwe in 89 T20Is, had joined three-time PSL champions Islamabad United for 11 million PKR as a replacement for West Indies star Shamar Joseph. But just before the start of the PSL on March 26, Muzarbani joined the three-time IPL champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), as a replacement for Mustafizur Rahman, who was released from the squad following the instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Soon after, Rajasthan Royals announced that they had signed Sri Lankan all-rounder and T20I captain Dasun Shanaka as a replacement for Sam Curran for the IPL 2026 season after an injury ruled the English all-rounder out of the tournament.

Shanaka went unsold at last year’s IPL auction in Abu Dhabi and was later picked up by Lahore Qalandars in the upcoming season of the PSL for PKR 75 lakh. With the signing, Shanaka became the second player, after Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani, to leave PSL and join IPL this year.

A few days after that, five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) roped in Australian pacer Spenser Johnson as a replacement for Nathan Ellis, who has been ruled out of the whole tournament due to a hamstring injury.

Johnson had signed for the Quetta Gladiators for the PSL 2026 season, but pulled out just before the tournament, citing personal reasons for leaving PSL.

South Africa’s seam-bowling all-rounder Corbin Bosch was the first player to make a switch from PSL to IPL, leaving Peshawar Zalmi to sign with Mumbai Indians, prompting the PSL to impose a one-year ban on him.

With three players pulling out ahead of PSL 2026 and joining the IPL, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi was livid and has threatened legal action against the players. However, he seems to be forgetting one thing: nobody can stop anyone from exploring better prospects, and it is a fact that IPL presents the players with greener pastures.

It is a no-brainer that cricketers all around the world want to play franchise cricket, and as IPL is tops of the tops, everyone wants to be associated with it. The IPL franchises, too, want the best players in the world in their ranks and are ready to spend mega bucks to recruit top talent that they can utilise in their teams in other leagues in case they can’t use them in IPL. PSL can’t compare with it on any parameters.

With the cash-rich IPL offering hefty sums, highly competitive cricket, instant recognition, and an opportunity for a better lifestyle, players want to be associated with it — this forces them to switch sides when the opportunity comes.

Also, PSL is the only league that clashes with the IPL because it is deliberately held in the same time frame, thus allowing the players the option to move from the weaker platform to the stronger one. The PCB knows that they have an inferior product, but still wants to compete against IPL for semantics and to satisfy the domestic sensibilities for losing face.

Besides domestic sensibilities, the reason the PCB feels threatened by losing out to IPL is that, for the first time, the PSL has attracted world-level talent in the form of Australians Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. David Warner will be participating for the second successive season, and with the likes of Dasun Shanaka and Spencer Johnson, the PSL has for the first time attracted great talent. But losing three top-level talent has definitely left the PCB bosses red-faced and fuming.

But with the PCB looking hell-bent on pursuing legal action against the players instead of improving and producing a better product, they may face another setback and lose more face.

–IANS

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