Bad news for Pakistan after PSL 2025 resumption as...

However, the situation has further deteriorated since PSL 2025 resumed on May 17. Only eight games were left to be played, but bringing back overseas players proved challenging — especially after the reactions of Tom Curran and Daryl Mitchell came to light. Not long after, it was revealed that Kyle Jamieson and Kusal Mendis chose to leave Quetta Gladiators in favor of opportunities in the IPL.

This weakened the standard of competition right before the PSL 2025 playoffs were set to start. The Gladiators, having secured a spot in the top four, now face the risk of missing out on the title due to the absence of their overseas stars. And as it turns out, player shortages aren’t the only concern.

The Decision Review System (DRS) was missing during the four group-stage fixtures, and it won’t be in use for the Qualifier 1 clash between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators either. Surprisingly, the PSL 2025 Final is also set to be played without DRS.

The reason is that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has failed to bring back the Hawk-Eye team — the only specialists trained to operate the system. Owing to heightened border tensions with India, the PCB had earlier sent everyone associated with the PSL back to their respective countries.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took a similar step. As a result, several overseas professionals opted not to come back. Cricketers such as Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk chose to skip the remainder of the IPL, just as the Hawk-Eye team has declined to return for the PSL.