Islamabad, Aug 9, 2025: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been named the world second most entertaining men’s franchise cricket league , according to an assessment by BBC Sport, standing just behind the Indian Premier League (IPL) in overall standings.
The BBC Sport review released earlier this week assessed major T20 and short-format franchise events, including the IPL, PSL, South Africa’s SA20, Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the UAE’s International League T20 (ILT20) and England’s The Hundred.
The research was conducted with cricket analytics firm CricViz evaluating numerous performance and excitement-related factors.
These included average boundaries per game, batting strike rates, the share of matches decided in the last over or final ball, home-ground influence, wicket-taking patterns and the average number of international caps within playing elevens.
Findings revealed that the PSL topped all leagues in average first-innings totals, achieving 180 runs per match slightly ahead of the IPL 179. Regarding close finishes, 27.5% of PSL fixtures were determined in the final over, ranking second only to the IPL 28.9%. It also placed second in average boundaries per match, again trailing the IPL.
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On player experience, the PSL averaged 351 international caps across its starting elevens, the second-highest among the leagues studied. The ILT20 led this category with 423 because of its larger quota for overseas players.
The BBC report underlined that the PSL delivers consistent high-quality cricket, thrilling finishes and high scores attracting top-tier international talent and providing opportunities for emerging Pakistani players.
In the combined “Entertainment Index,” the IPL topped the list with a score of 4.53 out of five, followed by the PSL at 3.90. The ILT20 came third at 2.44, with The Hundred in fourth place, CPL fifth, SA20 sixth and the BBL in last position.
