The Indian Premier League started in 2008 in India and has emerged as the leading global T20 Franchise Cricket League. It won’t be incorrect to state that all global T20 players aspire to play in the IPL. The IPL since its inception has grown to be the richest and as well as the most popular tournament in Franchise Cricket. As many as 8 teams participated in IPL 2021 and with the addition of 2 new franchises from Lucknow and Ahmedabad, 10 teams will feature in IPL from here on.
The budget of an IPL season is around Rs 225 crores and the prize money allocated to the winners of IPL is a staggering Rs 20 crores. The runners up earn a prize of Rs 12.5 crores. Also, a single IPL Season comprises of 60 matches that accommodate almost 2 months of a cricket calendar. These huge numbers clearly define the magnitude of the tournament.
On the other hand, Pakistan started its own version of the Franchise League known as the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2016. In PSL, currently there are 6 teams that participate in it. The number of matches in a PSL season is 34 and it comprises of a month of the cricket calendar. Notably, there are often clashes between PSL and other international series as PSL has not been a granted a separate window yet unlike the IPL.
The PSL budget too is comparatively lower than the IPL. In Pakistan Super League, currently, the winner of the tournament receives prize money of INR 3.75 crores and the league’s runners up is awarded INR 1.5 crores.
Thus, we can draw to the conclusion that in terms of the Budget, Magnitude, Sporting Rights and Prize Money it is the IPL that that outshines PSL by a huge margin.
Then why we are discussing the topic?
Well, there is a catch.
In Fantasy Sports, PSL scores some additional brownie points that makes it lucrative to play for the players. Undoubtedly, in an IPL season, the chances of winnings and prize money in Fantasy Leagues are higher but PSL ends up being a return of value investment in it.
In IPL there is a huge star power that participates in a single match. Thus, we often end up dropping a few star players while formulating an IPL team but in PSL the amount of star power is comparatively less thus one can easily form a match winning side in PSL.
In IPL there is a huge talent pool in the Domestic players, hence unless researched properly selecting the domestic contingent can end up being a bit tedious. But in PSL the amount of potential talent is handful thus PSL teams are easy to build. So here PSL scores well over IPL.
Winning fantasy leagues in IPL is tougher as there are many fantasy players who participate in IPL. Also, there are lots of team clashes in IPL owing to its shear size, but these chances become minimal in PSL. Also, the newbies in Fantasy Sports may find it difficult to compete in IPL compared to the PSL.
Thus, we can conclude that although IPL is far better in all aspects than PSL but there are a few underlying facts in PSL that makes it outscore IPL in Fantasy Sports.
Disclaimer: This article is solely for Educational Purpose. This game involves element of financial risk and can be addictive, Please play responsibly and at your own risk.