Ahead of the January 23, 2027, auction, all eight Pakistan Super League franchises accepted the salary caps and player retention guidelines for PSL 12, permitting squads to keep up to seven players.
Salman Naseer, the chief executive officer of the league, led the workshop where officials reached these conclusions at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Teams that keep the full limit of seven players, which incorporates their Direct Signing, must let go of one athlete from the top price category of the prior auction into the general pool.
Franchises have ten days to get ready for the auction, the second in the history of the league, because the retention cutoff is scheduled for January 13.
Organizers synchronized this deadline with the domestic cricket schedule of Pakistan, placing it after the National T20 Silver tournament and during the National T20 Gold competition so squads can evaluate recent player outings.
Every franchise receives a budget limit of Rs. 45 crore, roughly $1.6 million, which can grow to Rs. 50.5 crore if a club executes a new Direct Signing, keeps the Direct Signing from the past season, or completes both actions.
Clubs must also use a minimum spending amount of Rs. 36.5 crore, which equals about $1.3 million.
The window for Direct Signings shuts on November 23, 2026, granting every team permission to pick up one marquee athlete who skipped PSL 10 and PSL 11.
Participants at the workshop discussed squad sizes and trade windows, while every one of the eight teams gave unanimous consent to the auction guidelines after examining every clause.
Salman Naseer expressed satisfaction with the consensus following the gathering, noting that every team joined the talks with full transparency.
"Every franchise engaged with complete openness, the Auction rules were worked through line by line, and we finished with unanimous buy-in across all eight sides," he said.
He mentioned that matching the retention cutoff with local tournaments provides rising talent a real chance to shape team picks through their on-field displays.
