Unsold in IPL, Steve Smith becomes PSL's costliest signing

Lahore, Wednesday – In a dramatic reversal of fortune, Australian batting mainstay Steve Smith entered the record books as the most expensive purchase in Pakistan Super League history after new franchise Sialkot Stallions secured his services for PKR 14 crore (around USD 500,000) during the league’s inaugural players’ auction.

The development comes only days after Smith, 34, was overlooked in the Indian Premier League auction, leaving him without a deal in cricket’s richest franchise competition. The snub has been swiftly eclipsed by the PSL splurge, underlining the shifting dynamics of the global T20 market and the spending power of Pakistan’s revamped eight-team league.

Smith’s PSL windfall was the headline moment of a landmark evening at the auction in Lahore, which replaced the decade-old draft system and featured 103 signings across eight franchises. The league has expanded from six to eight clubs this season, with Sialkot Stallions and Hyderabad Bahadurs joining the fold after overseas Pakistani business groups paid PKR 185,000 crore and PKR 175,000 crore respectively for franchise rights.

Sialkot’s marquee buy arrives with immediate international relevance: Smith is expected to fly out to join Australia’s T20 World Cup squad as injury cover for all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, adding context to his newfound price tag.

Overseas stars dominated the high-value slots. Australia’s David Warner, New Zealand pair Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway, Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw and Tabraiz Shamsi, Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka and Kusal Mendis, and Australia’s Adam Zampa and Marnus Labuschagne were all hotly pursued, but none surpassed Smith’s eventual fee.

Among local talent, fast bowler Naseem Shah fetched the top price for a Pakistani player, Islamabad United sealing his signature for PKR 8.65 crore. United doubled down by adding all-rounder Faheem Ashraf for PKR 8.5 crore, assembling two of the country’s most sought-after white-ball assets in a single evening.

Peshawar Zalmi retained captain Babar Azam for PKR 7 crore, but the largest retention cheque was written for opener Saim Ayub, whose explosive recent form persuaded the franchise to commit PKR 12.2 crore to keep him in the fold.

The revamped PSL is scheduled to run from 26 March to 3 May, a window that will overlap directly with the 2025 Indian Premier League and intensify the tug-of-war for television audiences and player availability. Multan Sultans, meanwhile, have been sold and rebranded as Rawalpindi, completing a sweeping overhaul of the competition’s commercial landscape.

With Smith’s record-shattering deal setting the tone, the league’s first auction has already delivered the headline it craved: a global superstar unsold in one market, anointed the most valuable commodity in another.