New Delhi, India

The schedules of the 2025 editions of the Pakistan Super League and the Indian Premier League in the summer are destined to clash with each other. This is because of Pakistan's packed home season as hosts of that year's edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. 

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The IPL's action kicks off in March and goes on for two and a half months to end at the beginning of June. Although the PSL usually commences at the beginning of the year in January and goes on till February, the Pakistan Cricket Board was forced to postpone the tournament to March and May due to their obligations as the host of the Champions Trophy in February 2025.

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The 2025 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy marks the first time the international governing body has moved to host a tournament in the country after 30 year long hiatus. Safety and security issues in the country were the main reasons why Pakistan lost the right to host international tournaments on home soil during the past three Future Tours and Programme Cycles (FTP).

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However, they have seemingly earned the trust of the cricketing community as they are currently hurtling towards an extremely busy and packed season of international cricket. Pakistan is set to compete in 27 T20Is, 26 ODIs and 13 Tests on home soil in addition to the ICC Champions Trophy.

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PCB Chief Executive Faisal Hassan recently issued a statement justifying their decision to move the schedule around, "While finalising our Future Tours Programme 2023-2027 in a tight and densely-packed cricket calendar, we have given priority to context, quality and player workload."

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All said and done, it will be interesting to note how the PSL will compete against the mighty IPL in terms of enjoying international attention, viewership and more. Most importantly, however, is which league the players, who ply their trade in both formats, will pick.