The player auction for the 2026 Pakistan Super League was held on 11 February 2026 in Lahore. It was the first time in PSL history that selection was done through a player auction system for the eleventh season, replacing the draft method that had been used since the league began in 2016.
Ahead of the 2026 season, the PSL expanded from six to eight teams following the auction of two new franchises Hyderabad Kingsmen and Rawalpindiz. The Pakistan Cricket Board, along with all eight franchises, agreed to replace the draft system with a player auction starting from the 11th season, allowing franchises to bid openly for players for the first time in PSL history.
Previously, since its inaugural season in 2016, the PSL had been using a player draft system to form team squads till the ten seasons. Under this system, players were grouped into fixed categories (Platinum, Gold, Silver etc), and franchises selected players in a set order rather than through open bidding.
Team purse was capped at and allowed be extended to to allow direct signing of one foreign player who has not featured in previous season. All eight PSL franchises bid openly for players with all bids and minimum incremental increases in Pakistani rupees. Players entered the auction with set base prices at four tiers:
Minimum bid increments vary by price level, with franchises free to bid above the prescribed minimum amounts. Franchises were allowed to select 16 to 20 players, including five to seven overseas players depending on squad size, and must include at least two uncapped UnderâÂÂ23 players, with one featured in the playing XI. Players selected at the auction enter twoâÂÂyear contracts with their franchises. Franchises may also directly sign one foreign player who did not play in the previous season outside of the auction process. These signings would be outside of team purse which can be extended to accommodate such direct signings.
Each franchise was allowed to retain a maximum of four players from its existing squad, limited to one player per category, if mutual agreements were reached before the auction. Previously, teams could retain up to eight players and had additional mechanisms such as the rightâÂÂtoâÂÂmatch (RTM) option, mentor roles, and brand ambassador places under the draft system. The PCB abolished the RTM option, mentor and brand ambassador provisions for PSLâ¯11.
The two newly inducted franchises were permitted to preâÂÂselect and retain up to four players each from the available pool before the main auction, to match the retention numbers of the existing six franchises.
Franchise were allowed to retain upto four players, one in each category before the auction, new franchises were allowed to sign four players to match the retentions of other six franchises.
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Teams were allowed to directly sign one foreign player before the auction who has not played in the previous season on PSL. These signings were outside of the team purse and were up to PKR 55m.
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The auction for the full squad was held on 11 February 2026 at Lahore. 888 players including local and foreign registered for the auction at 4 different base prices.
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