| Pakistan Junior League | |
| Country: | Pakistan |
| Administrator: | Pakistan Cricket Board |
| Cricket Format: | 20-over cricket |
| First: | 2022 |
| Last: | 2022 |
| Tournament Format: | Single Round Robin |
| Participants: | 6 |
| Most Successful: | Bahawalpur Royals (1 title) |
The Pakistan Junior League (PJL) was a professional 20-over cricket[1] league contested by Under-19 teams representing different cities of Pakistan.[2] The league was soft-launched on 14 April 2022 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, Ramiz Raja.[3] The only installment, the 2022 Pakistan Junior League (also known as PJL1), was played from 6–21 October 2022, featuring six teams and 19 games, at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.[4] Draft for the league was held on 8 Sep 2022, 24 foreign players from nine different countries were selected by teams along with 66 local players.[5] It featured six teams playing 19 games in a round robin league format, at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.[6] It was the first international league to exclusively consist of junior cricketers.[7] Bahawalpur Royals beat Gwadar Sharks in the final on 21 October and became the inaugural and only champions of the PJL. The league was dissolved in December 2022.
Shortly after his promotion to the position of PCB Chairman in September 2021, Ramiz Raja outlined his plans to improve cricket in Pakistan.[8] Highlighting that the board needed to facilitate the transformation of young cricketers into world-class players, he expressed the desire to introduce an 'Under-19 T20 World League'.[9] Over the following months, further details of this vision were outlined and Raja described his aspiration to expand the already successful Pakistan Super League (PSL) into two additional versions tailored to youth cricket and women's cricket.[10] At the 67th Board of Governors meeting in December 2021, Pakistan's Pathway Cricket Foundation was identified as an initiative that would look to nurture 100 young cricketers in preparation for the upcoming launch of an 'U-19 PSL'.[11]
On 14 April 2022, the PCB, through their official website, announced the launch of the PJL.[12] The announcement was accompanied by a statement from Raja who confirmed the inaugural season would take place in October 2022.[13] In addition, the PCB had initiated the process to secure title, category sponsorships, live streaming providers and franchise owners.[14] The competition was to be a city-based league with players selected through a draft system.[15] The PCB planned to involve international age-group cricketers from various nations as well.[16]
The season's logo variant was unveiled with the hashtag #Next11 and #PJL also being used on social media.
The tournament was broadcast live on PTV Sports and live streamed on Geo Super’s App and Geo Super’s YouTube and Facebook pages in Pakistan. Live streaming was made available on the PCB YouTube/Facebook and PJL YouTube/Facebook channels for the rest of the world.
The tournament broadcast was done through a 22 camera full HD production including enhancements such as Buggy cam and drone camera.
The commentary panel for the inaugural edition included prominent commentators Daren Ganga, Dominic Cork and Mike Haysman. Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir, former Zimbabwe player Tino Mawoyo and seasoned broadcaster Sikander Bakht was also a part of the panel. Roha Nadeem was the presenter.
The Pakistan Junior League was dissolved by the newly appointed PCB Management Committee on 31 December 2022.[17] [18] It was dissolved after the first edition had cost approximately 997 million and had earned returns of 190 million, causing losses of 4 million.[19] [20] [21]
On 30 August 2022, PCB announced the names of the six teams for the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Junior League, each representing one city of Pakistan. These names were different from those used by the teams of the Pakistan Super League. Although the PCB had initially had planned a franchise model similar to that of PSL, it decided to take up the ownership of the teams itself after the base price set up for the ownership of teams was not met by the bidders.[22]
| Team | Founded | Mentor[23] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bahawalpur Royals | 2022 | Imran Tahir | |
| Gujranwala Giants | 2022 | Shoaib Malik | |
| Gwadar Sharks | 2022 | Viv Richards | |
| Hyderabad Hunters | 2022 | Daren Sammy | |
| Mardan Warriors | 2022 | Shahid Afridi | |
| Rawalpindi Raiders | 2022 | Colin Munro |
Draft for the league was held on 8 Sep 2022, 24 foreign players from nine different countries were selected by teams along with 66 local players.[24] The opening ceremony and first match of the tournament was held at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on 6 October 2022.[25] The 2022 PJL cost 997 million and incurred losses of 4 million which caused the PJL to be dissolved by the newly appointed PCB management committee.[26] [27] [28]
All the matches of the PJL took place at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan.
| Lahore | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaddafi Stadium | ||||
| Capacity: 27,000 | ||||
| Matches: 19 | ||||
The six teams played 5 matches each and got 2 points for every win, none for a loss and 1 point for a no result. The top four teams in the group stage qualified for the play-offs.
A warm-up match was played between Hyderabad Hunters and Rawalpindi Raiders in which Hyderabad Hunters defeated Rawalpindi Raiders by 7 wickets.
| width=175 | Team[29] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwadar Sharks (R) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1.231 | |
| Bahawalpur Royals (C) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.821 | |
| Rawalpindi Raiders (4th) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.067 | |
| Mardan Warriors (3rd) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.429 | |
| Gujranwala Giants | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.280 | |
| Hyderabad Hunters | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.550 |
The PCB confirmed the fixtures for the tournament.[30]
------------------------------------
----------------
----
The only champions were Bahawalpur Royals, who defeated Gwadar Sharks in the final.
| Season (No. of teams) | 2022 (6) | |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Bahawalpur Royals | W (2nd) | |
| Gujranwala Giants | ||
| Gwadar Sharks | R (1st) | |
| Hyderabad Hunters | ||
| Mardan Warriors | 3rd (4th) | |
| Rawalpindi Raiders | 4th (3rd) |