When cricket fans think of great T20 leagues, they probably think right away about the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash in Australia. However, there is another highly entertaining, noteworthy T20 cricket tournament that takes place once a year. That’s the Pakistan Super League.

Pakistan Super League Bracket 2021

This 2021 South Asian cricket tournament will feature six franchise teams compete for the title, is due to kick off  on the 20th of February and go for nearly a month. The PSL championship is scheduled for the 22nd of March. Below we provide a printable bracket and look at the potential contenders for the 2021 PSL championship.

Are you excited to watch the Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalanders, and Islamabad United? You’re not alone. PSL fans are ready for the tournament so we’ve provided the 2021 PSL bracket in printer friendly (ahem) PDF format.

2021 PSL Predictions: Who will win?

Now that you have your bracket in-hand and ready for the PSL playoffs, let’s talk about which teams that are going into the post season as favorites to take home the trophy. Below you’ll find we’ve written up the odds for each PSL team as well as why we seeded them so high (or so low).

Karachi Kings – 3/1

The Karachi Kings won this tournament in 2020, beating Lahore by 5 wickets in the PSL final. This was the first time that they lifted the trophy, and this was largely thanks to Babar Azam, who was the highest score in the league with 473 runs to his name. When you look at the team that they have for the 2021 edition, it is obvious that they have a very good chance of winning again. They have some very good batsmen and two very good all-rounders in the shape of Mohammed Nabi and Dan Christian. They are lacking in the bowling department, so it is likely that they will need Nabi and Christian more for their bowling than their batting.

Lahore Qalanders – 7/2

Lahore were in fine form in 2020, but fell at the final hurdle against the Karachi Kings. The fact that they made it to the final was mostly due to some fantastic bowling performances. Shaheen Afridi was the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 17 wickets to his name, while Samit Patel picked up 4 wickets for just 5 runs in one of his spells. When it came to their batting, Ben Dunk was the leading six hitter. They have managed to keep Afridi, Patel, and Dunk for the 2021 edition and have added the extremely talented Joe Denly and Rashid Khan to their team, meaning they have the quality to go one step further this year.

Quetta Gladiators – 4/1

They finished in 5th last year, which is the lowest they have finished in the history of the competition. Mohammed Hasnain shone with the ball and picked up 14 wickets, but all his teammates were mediocre throughout. They have gone all out this year to improve their chances of winning by signing the likes of Chris Gayle, Tom Banton, and Dale Steyn. They now have a nice mixture of experience and youth and we would be really surprised if they do as badly as they did in 2020.

Peshawar Zalmi – 9/2

Like the Gladiators, they also had their worst ever campaign in 2020, coming 4th in the regular season and then going on to be beaten by Lahore in the play-offs.

Cricketer Kamran Akmal was their stat batsman and he hit the highest score in the tournament – 101 off 55 balls. He also managed to smash 41 boundaries, which put him at the top of the boundary list. Shoaib Malik also put in a good shift with three half-centuries from the 7 innings that he played. They have managed to keep hold of Malik and Akmal for the 2021 campaign and have added the likes of Ravi Bopara, David Miller, and Sherfane Rutherford. While they do have plenty of talent on show, they do lack depth and it would not be too much of a surprise if they had a similar season to 2020.

Islamabad United – 5/1

They won the first PSL trophy and are the competition’s most successful team, having won it twice. However, they have been pretty poor since 2018 – they finished at the bottom of the pile in 2020. Colin Munro and Shadab Khan were their best performers with the bat, scoring three fifties each, but Islamabad had little else to cheer. They have managed to keep hold of Khan and Munro and have added England internationals Chris Jordan and Alex Hales. We do not think they will go all the way, but we are sure that they will provide a lot more value for cricket bettors in 2021.

Multan Sultans

They were top of the table at the end of the regular season and just missed out on playing in the final thanks to a Super Over defeat to the Karachi Kings. So, why are the bookies not giving them a chance of winning the 2021 edition? That is a very good question, especially when you take a look at their squad. It contains the likes of Chris Lynn, Carlos Braithwaite, James Vince, Imran Tahir, and Shahid Afridi. Although the bookmakers do not seem to give them much of a chance, if they are on top of their game, they will be a match for every team.

Our PSL 2021 Predictions

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the PSL has managed to attract some of the best cricketers in the world, and this year’s competition has the hallmarks of being the best yet. Below you can find our prediction for the regular season and then the play-offs.

  1. Lahore Qalanders
  2. Karachi Kings
  3. Quetta Gladiators
  4. Islamabad United
  5. Multan Sultans
  6. Peshawar Zalmi

Our Overall Winners: Lahore Qalanders

Runners Up: Quetta Gladiators

You can make your own predictions using the downloadable bracket sheet below that has been provided to us by https://www.cricketonlinebetting.in/. Good luck!