LAHORE: The historic 11th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), scheduled to be held from March 26 to May 3, will have a separate Urdu commentary feed, the tournament’s CEO Salman Naseer announced on Saturday.
Naseer announced the major development during a joint press conference with Ahsan Tahir of Wali Technologies after he made the largest financial offer in the history of Pakistan cricket for media rights of PKR 26.11 billion.
The development comes after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed the successful completion of the tender process for the TV broadcast and live-broadcast rights of the HBL Pakistan Super League for the 2026-29 cycle.
According to PCB, the tender process attracted the largest financial offer ever recorded for media rights in Pakistan cricket.
Before opening the financial bids, the board announced the reserve price in accordance with what it described as a transparent and robust bidding process. Wally Technologies crossed the joint stock price at an unprecedented PKR 26.11 billion.
The newly structured rights package allows the exploitation of both television and live-streaming rights across Pakistan, ensuring comprehensive and enhanced coverage for hundreds of millions of cricket fans across the country.
The rating reflects PSL’s exponential growth over the past decade and underlines the commercial strength and brand value of the country’s premier T20 tournament, PCB said.
The four-year deal, once executed, will cover the 2026 to 2029 editions of the league, shattering all previous records and ratings and reaffirming the PSL’s position as one of the most sought-after T20 properties in the region.
Addressing a press conference, Naseer said that a dedicated channel will exclusively carry Urdu commentary.
“We have already agreed on a few things for their engagement. So one channel will be very dedicated and all the commentary and feed will be in Urdu. Of the other three, it’s your right, but we have already agreed on one thing, one channel will be completely in Urdu commentary,” he said.
Ahsan Tahir of Walee Technologies emphasized the importance of maintaining high production standards while strengthening local expertise.
“Whenever we talk about excellence or quality in Pakistan, it is very important that one word international quality comes to mind. We have aligned everything – our excellence, our quality work – with international standards. I feel there is a lot of work to be done locally; there are a lot of professionals and we will do it,” he said.
Highlighting the long-term vision behind the deal, Ahsan added that Urdu feed would be a mandatory feature moving forward.
“That’s why, insha’Allah, a channel has been legally mandated to bring it into Urdu. But now, we will sit down with all the parties like broadcasters, publishers, TV channels, digital platforms and say it’s not a sprint, but a marathon. Let’s go from there,” he concluded.