Global Super League 2024: Five teams finalised, PSL team to face Guyana Amazon Warriors in opener

The first of its kind, Global Super League, is set to be played from November 26 this year and five teams from different T20 leagues will feature in the competition. Hampshire Hawks (T20 Blast), Rangpur Riders (BPL), Victoria (Australia state team), Guyana Amazon Warriors (CPL) and Lahore Qalandars (PSL) will fight it out to win the trophy.

The opening game of the tournament will see Guyana face the Qalandars with a total of 11 matches scheduled to take place from November 26 to December 7. Each team in the Global Super League will face the other once in the league stage before the top two sides make it to the final. Providence Stadium in Guyana will host all the matches.

"The league shows Guyana's "ambition to become a global sporting destination. International club competition has proven itself to be successful across other sports and has been lacking in cricket for some time. It has been sanctioned by Cricket West Indies (CWI) and "fully supported" by the government of Guyana, a "key stakeholder" in the competition, and has a prize money of US$1 million," Giles White, director of Men's Cricket at Hampshire, said according to ESPNCricinfo.

There are likely to be availability issues among several players in the inaugural edition of the Global Super League. West Indies are scheduled to host Bangladesh for two Test matches from November 22 to December 4. This will lead to players like Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, and Kevin Sinclair being unavailable for the tournament.

Rangpur Riders will also miss the services of Hasan Mahmud who is expected to play the Test series against the West Indies. At the same time, Pakistan are scheduled to tour South Africa from December 10 across all formats. In this case, Babar Azam who played six matches for Rangpur Riders is unlikely to feature in the Global Super League while Lahore Qalandars' skipper Shaheen Afridi is also doubtful given the hectic schedule.