Lahore, October 30, 2026: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has announced January 13, 2027, as the deadline for all eight franchises to submit their player retention lists ahead of the PSL 12 Player Auction scheduled for January 23.
The league confirmed the decision through its official social media accounts, directing all eight franchises to finalise and submit their retention lists by the stipulated date.
The announcement came a day after representatives of all eight franchises met at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for a tournament operations workshop, where they unanimously agreed on the key framework governing squad composition, player movements and the upcoming auction.
The workshop, led by PSL Chief Executive Officer Salman Naseer, was described as the most comprehensive collective engagement between the league and its franchise partners during the current cycle.
Discussions covered direct signings, player retentions, trade windows, squad sizes and salary caps, with all eight franchises reaching consensus on the major operational arrangements for the upcoming season.
Under the agreed framework, each franchise will be allowed to retain a maximum of seven players, including its direct signing. However, franchises opting to retain the maximum number must release one player from the highest price category of the previous auction into the general player pool.
The provision aims to ensure that elite players remain available to all franchises during the auction.
The January 13 retention deadline has been scheduled to allow franchises to assess domestic players’ performances in the National T20 competitions before finalising their squads. It falls after the conclusion of the National T20 Silver competition and during the National T20 Gold tournament.
The PSL 12 Auction Rules were also reviewed clause by clause and unanimously approved by representatives of all eight franchises. The upcoming auction will be only the second in the league’s history.
Under the approved framework, each franchise will have a salary cap of Rs450 million (Rs45 crore), approximately $1.6 million, for the auction.
The limit will increase to Rs505 million (Rs50.5 crore) for franchises that make a direct signing, retain their previous season’s direct signing or exercise both options.
All franchises will be required to spend a minimum of Rs365 million (Rs36.5 crore), approximately $1.3 million.
Meanwhile, the direct signing window will remain open until November 23, 2026, with each franchise permitted to directly sign one marquee player who did not feature in PSL 10 or PSL 11.
The agreed arrangements are aimed at ensuring a competitive auction process while providing franchises with greater flexibility in building their squads for PSL 12.
