Journalists call for more teams in PSL

Opinion divided on whether league final should be held in Lahore or not

SHARJAH: The Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) stint in the UAE has finished for this year, with the final taking place in Lahore, and journalists covering the league in Dubai and Sharjah have weighed in on its second edition.

BBC Urdu’s Abdul Rashid Shakoor feels the tournament has been more exciting this time around, with most of the matches going to the wire. “The PSL has improved but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should know there is always room for improvement,” he said. “They need to assess their own performance and see where they can improve.”

Shakoor believes the PCB needs to target filling stadiums. “The main thing is how you pull crowds into these matches,” he said. “We saw in the play-offs that the stadiums were sold out and that was good.”



Express News’ Mirza Iqbal Baig lauded the PCB for making the PSL more organised this time around, stating that the first edition was a bit hotchpotch.

However, like Shakoor, he believes the board needs to find a way to fill the stands. “What was sad was that certain matches had almost empty stadiums,” he said. “I think the spot-fixing scandal affected the league’s popularity as well.”

Asked where he would like to see the league go from here, Baig said he hopes the league takes place in Pakistan in the near future.

“This is Pakistan’s product and the PCB should do everything it can do bring it home,” he said. “This will revive interest in the youth.”



However, the seasoned Baig believes the final is not going to bring back cricket to the country, as many are suggesting. “The final will not bring back international cricket, since it is only a three-hour game,” he said. “International cricket will return only when an international team comes to the country and tours it in its entirety, not just one ground.”

Meanwhile, Barnaby Read from sports website Sports 360 feels the league needs to change its format. “Either more teams need to be brought in or they need to do something with the qualifying stage,” he said. “With only one team exiting and four teams going through, the group stage isn’t very competitive. Other than that, I think it’s been a superb league. The players are getting are good and the standard of cricket is amazing.”

Paul Radley, from the UAE newspaper National, agreed with Read regarding the need for more teams. “I know they are looking to bring in other franchises such as Multan and Sialkot; that would be a good thing,” he said. “The best thing that can happen to the tournament is if it goes back to Pakistan, so hopefully that will happen. However, I don’t think holding the final will convince international teams to tour Pakistan.”



ESPNCricinfo’s Osman Samiuddin also echoed the general consensus about the need for more teams and stadium audiences. “The marketing needs to be more aggressive so that people flock to stadiums. The opportunity is there for them, they just need to take advantage of it,” he said.

Samiuddin, like Baig and Radley, doesn’t feel the final will bring international cricket to the country, and hence questions the wisdom behind holding it in Pakistan. “Not convinced with the final in Lahore. The risk is much higher than the reward,” he said. “If anything goes wrong, then we can say goodbye to cricket at home for years to come. And even nothing does, then it won’t be enough to convince international teams to come to Pakistan.”