PSL 2025: The 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) season is underway, and during the third match played on Saturday, Karachi Kings defeated Multan Sultans by four wickets. Although on-field action was enthralling, off-field vacant seats made the headlines—serious questions being raised over the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) frequent assertions that the PSL is more popular than the Indian Premier League (IPL).
A report by The Dawn stated that as few as 5,000 fans witnessed the game at the National Stadium in Karachi. At the same time, as many as almost 6,700 security officials attended the game—much greater than the number of fans. Most of the stadium was not occupied, and this enormous difference between security officials and fans surprised people.
Security personnel for PSL in Karachi 6700
— ٰImran Siddique (@imransiddique89) April 12, 2025
Fans for PSL in Karachi 5000 pic.twitter.com/BSShWEvxHM
The lack of turnout, or even its absence, directly contradicts what players and PCB officials have said, who have credited PSL’s growing popularity worldwide. More importantly, even a former Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali recently stated that if quality cricket is played out in the PSL, people would leave the IPL and turn to watching the PSL. In fact, on the ground, the narrative was different, and even local fans didn’t seem to be interested in turning up for a match where there were former IPL players along with domestic favorites.
In contrast, the IPL 2025 has seen complete houses and lively supporters in nearly all the matches with very few vacant seats to be found.
How the Match Unfolded As for the game itself, this was a high-scoring well-contested game. Multan Sultans batted first and clocked a massive 234 runs in their 20 overs, skipper Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 105 being the prime force behind the innings. His hundred, however, was not enough to win the game.
Karachi Kings completed the target overwhelmingly thanks to an extraordinary century from James Vince. His century established the foundation of the chase, and Khushdil Shah played a critical part as well, earning a beneficial 60 runs to lead the team to the finish.
Despite the on-field fireworks, the lack of spectators was the bigger talking point of the day—raising serious questions about the actual popularity and reach of the PSL, especially in comparison to the IPL.
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