The conversation around the Pakistan Super League in India often stops at one explanation: restrictions and limited legal access. But industry insiders believe the league’s challenge in India ran deeper than policy alone. Even if the PSL had remained fully available, it may still have struggled to command serious traction in the world’s most competitive cricket market. Sports business analyst Prashant Joglekar believes the league lacked sufficient commercial pull to sustain interest. While the Indian Premier League continues to conquer new heights globally, with the league now entering the billion-dollar ecosystem, it has reached a point where it is possibly driving the global cricket economy.
"So these leagues, Big Bash or the South African League, the West Indian League, have a kind of land following because our franchises have taken up teams everywhere. So in some way, the Kolkata team or even the Mumbai team has a franchise in those regions. That's why it makes those leagues a bit more relatable for our people to watch. But PSL, from the real-money-gain perspective, never really had a future. Now that it is entirely banned, I doubt if PSL has any value left in the country," he told Sports Now in an exclusive interview.
PSL’s India Problem Ran Deeper Than the Ban (AI-Initiative)
Gone are the days when a Pakistan team had the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Inzamam-ul-Haq, to name a few, who could attract global attention. The current Pakistan team, in a lot many ways, doesn't have that many stars that can generate interest among the Indians, and perhaps in the global cricketing eco-system. Even without the current ban on PSL in India, the league would have grabbed eyeballs at a bare minimum. And clashing with IPL didn't do any good to that either.
"So, apart from just the Pakistani players or some Australian players, there are no big names. And how much of a fan following do these players have in India? Not that the league had a lot of value earlier, and even if it was, must have been bare minimum," he pointed.
"The government banning these fantasy apps and online betting has played a major role in the entire chunk, not being interested in trying to put their money because there's nothing to gain from there. Yeah. And in some sense, they are even correlating it with a drop in IPL viewership. But if you're dialing into it through a VPN, is that really counted in the total viewership for PSL? There's no way to actually know that number," he explained further.
"When PSL was broadcast in India, there wasn't much interest in the country either. The Pakistan team doesn't have enough stars to attract that kind of attention in India. So, just from a return-on-investment point of view, there is not much to gain for a broadcaster. Even when the league was legally broadcast in India," a source close to one of the leading broadcasters in India told Sports Now.
The enduring popularity of theIndian Premier Leagueglobally stands in sharp contrast to the way the Pakistan Super League is viewed. Despite political tensions and fragmented access, IPL clips, discussions, and player narratives continue to generate strong interest inPakistanthrough digital ecosystems and fan communities. IPL, as a property, is far ahead of PSL. It deals with global stars, better production, franchise loyalty, and aspirational value. For the PSL in India, the real challenge may never have been access alone. It was relevance.
GetLatest NewsLive on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines fromCricket,IPL 2026,IPL Points Table, and around theSports.
Sajal Patra brings nearly 15 years of diverse experience in digital and print journalism, and currently leads sports coverage at Times Network, with e...View More
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
