On Monday 12th February 2024, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the Match Officials and Commentary Panel of HBL PSL 9 2024. A total of 16 umpires and 3 match referees will officiate all the matches of Pakistan Super League season 9. On the other hand, a total of 18-member commentary panel is also announced along with 2 presenters. The highly anticipated tournament will kick off on Saturday 17th February 2024 in Gaddafi Stadium Lahore where the defending champions Lahore Qalandars will take on Islamabad United after the commencement of the HBL PSL 9 opening ceremony.
The details of the umpires, match referees, commentators, and presenters are here below:
Umpires and Match Referees
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the Match Officials and Commentary Panel of HBL PSL 9 2024 which is scheduled to start across 4 venues from 17th February 2024 to 18th March 2024. The match officials for the PSL 9 Qualifier and 2 eliminators along with the final will be announced in due course.
4 out of 16 umpires are members of the ICC’s elite panel of umpires including Chris Gaffaney, Richard Illingworth, Michael Gough, and Pakistan’s Ahsan Raza will be accompanied by 12 other foreign and local umpires. Among the foreign umpires, Gaffaney from New Zealand will make his HBL PSL debut by officiating for the first time in the Pakistan Super League.
Among the match referees, Roshan Mahanama, who is also a former member of the ICC’s elite panel of match referees, will be providing his services for the 9th consecutive season and will lead a team of 3 match referees with other members including Muhamad Javed and Ali Naqvi.
The opening match of the PSL 9 between defending champions Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United in Gaddafi Stadium Lahore will be officiated by experienced umpire Aleem Dar along with Michael Gough on the field. The TV umpire will be Tariq Rasheed while the duty of reserve umpires will be performed by Shozab Raza. The responsibility of the match referee will be upon Muhammad Javed of the opening match. Umpires and Match Referee details are here below:
Umpires of PSL Season 9
- Richard Illingworth – (England, member of ICC’s elite panel of umpires)
- Chris Gaffaney – (New Zealand, member of ICC’s elite panel of umpires)
- Ahsan Raza – (Pakistan, member of ICC’s elite panel of umpires)
- Michael Gough – (England, member of ICC’s elite panel of umpires)
- Aleem Dar – Pakistan
- Tariq Rasheed – Pakistan
- Shozab Raza -Pakistan
- Rashid Riaz – Pakistan
- Asif Yaqoob – Pakistan
- Faisal Afridi – Pakistan
- Abdul Moqeed – Pakistan
- Nasir Hussain – Pakistan
- Nasir Hussain – Pakistan
- Imran Javed – Pakistan
- Alex Wharf – England
- Ruchira Palliyaguruge – Sri Lanka
Match Referees of PSL 9
- Roshan Mahanama – Sri Lanka
- Ali Naqvi – Pakistan
- Muhammad Javed – Pakistan
Commentators and Presenters
A start studded and experienced 18-member commentary panel along with 2 presenters are announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board for the HBL PSL 9 2024. Commentary will be done in both English and Urdu language during the whole tournament. The commentary panel comprises both local and international commentators along with two presenters of the match.
Michael Clarke, former Australian captain is all set to make his HBL PSL debut in the commentary box. The 42-year-old Micheal Clarke has been an active broadcaster since his retirement from all forms of cricket. Ramiz Raja is also making his return to the Pakistan Super League as a commentator as he was not part of the league in the previous edition.
The details of the star-studded lineup of the commentary panel for HBL PSL 9 2024 along with the presenters are here below:
Commentators
- Ramiz Raja – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Waqar Younis – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Amir Sohail – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Bazid Khan – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Sikandar Bakht – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Sana Mir – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Urooj Mumtaz – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Marina Iqbal – (Pakistan, English/Urdu)
- Tariq Saeed – (Pakistan, Urdu)
- Ali Younis – (Pakistan, Urdu)
- Ian Bishop – (West Indies, English)
- Michael Clark – (Australia, English)
- Danny Morrison – (New Zealand, English)
- Simon Doull – (New Zealand, English)
- Pommie Mbangwa – (Zimbabwe, English)
- Mark Butcher – (England, English)
- Dominic Cork – (England, English)
- Mike Haysman – (South Africa, English)
Match Presenters
- Erin Holland
- Zainab Abbas
Cameras and Technologies to be used in the HBL PSL 9 2024
The production of the Pakistan Super League is set to maintain its broadcasting standards in this upcoming edition of PSL as well. A total of 30 HD cameras including the buggy cam will be used to stream high-quality action to the fans of HBL PSL around the globe. Spidercam will not only bring dynamic angles to the audience of Television but it has also been upgraded with an enhancement of speaker and microphone for conducting interviews of the on-field player during the matches. Drone cameras will also be used to capture different angles of the ground and around the ground and also help the streaming quality.
Furthermore, throughout the HBL PSL, the DRS technology will also be available. The Cricket fans will see a change in the on-screen graphics during the HBL PSL matches with the addition of revamped improved reality graphics and headshots of player video.