Fans will be allowed to attend the remaining games of the Pakistan Super League after prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday approved spectators for three Playoffs matches.

It comes two days after Sharif approved a request from franchise owners to allow fans for the PSL’s May 3 final in Lahore.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also interior minister in the government, announced the decision on social media after his meeting with Sharif in Islamabad.

He wrote on X that Sharif wanted the fans to “use public transport or minimize fuel consumption while attending the matches, in line with the ongoing national austerity efforts.”

Pakistan’s biggest sports spectacle of the year started behind closed doors late last month with fans asked to stay home because of soaring fuel prices related to the Iran war.

Pakistan’s government had urged people to restrict travel and to work from home and Naqvi had said it wouldn’t be right to have 30,000 fans attending cricket matches every day while the government is asking the public to stay home.

The PCB also reduced the number of PSL venues from six to two as part of austerity measures, but barred spectators from PSL games at Lahore and Karachi.

Peshawar Zalmi, led by Babar Azam, will take on three-time champion Islamabad United in the qualifier in Karachi on Tuesday with the winner advancing to the final.

The loser faces the winner of Wednesday’s eliminator between first-timer Hyderabad Kingsmen and Multan Sultans on May 1 for the second spot in the finale, with all three of those matches in Lahore.

Published on Apr 27, 2026