PSL — some concerns

We hope PCB has observed due diligence and ascertained all aspects linked to the successful organisation of the event

After months of uncertainty, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced Doha, Qatar, as the venue of the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which is set to feature five teams and 24 matches in a 21-day span and will kick off from February 4 next year. Doha was not the PCB’s first choice as an off-shore venue for the league, but after it was announced that the Masters Cricket League (MCL) will be held in the UAE during the same period, the board decided to give Doha the green signal despite the fact that the Emirates has acted as ‘home ground’ for Pakistan for the last few years.

While the inauguration of the PSL is welcome, the disturbing aspect here is the seemingly less-than-ideal relationship between the PCB and the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), and the apparent poor planning by the former. The ECB preferred hosting the MCL to the PSL as it claims that the former’s organisers approached it well before the PCB did. Apart from the fact that the PCB should have done its homework regarding the venue of the league well in advance, it seems there is a potential deadlock of sorts developing with the ECB. The UAE is set to host the Pakistan-England series in October, but if the deadlock continues, this might well be the last series that the national team plays in the Emirates. At present, Doha is home to only one international class facility, which according to some former cricketers is as good as the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. It can host around 25,000 spectators and the presence of a large South Asian community in the city makes it a potentially viable cricket centre. However, the venue still hasn’t staged any top-flight cricket. We hope the PCB has observed due diligence and ascertained all aspects linked to the successful organisation of the event. The league is set to provide much-needed financial relief to domestic players, who are expected to make good money through the franchise system, along with 25 leading Twenty20 players from around the world, without India.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2015.

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