The Pakistan Super League's 10th edition is all set to kick off in Rawalpindi on Friday, April 11 with defending champions Islamabad United taking on two-time champions Lahore Qalandars at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium at 08:30pm (PST).
The six-team tournament will see 34 matches played from April 11 to May 18, with Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium set to host 13 matches, including two Eliminators and the final, Rawalpindi to host 11 matches while Karachi and Multan to stage five matches each.
However, what is glaringly missing from this all-important 10th edition of the PSL is its customary fanfare and excitement which had made the league such a huge draw with millions of fans, both at home and abroad.
One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the prime reason for the fans' lukewarm response to PSL this season, The national team's continued miserable run in international cricket for nearly a year and a half has obviously left the fans dismayed and disillusioned, as discovered by Telecomasia.net after a brief survey.
"I have given up on Pakistan Cricket and am in no mood to spend even five rupees for the PSL matches which are commencing here (in Karachi) next week," says Junaid Ikram, a marketing associate from a high-profile company.
"What is there to watch in PSL, you tell me," asks an angry-looking Junaid while taking to Telecomasia.net. "The recent disaster in New Zealand was, perhaps, the last straw. Can you imagine any team losing seven out of eight matches. We are worse than Zimbabwe, even Fiji Island."
Even the return of dashing opener Saim Ayub from his injury does not excite Junaid for PSL X. "Saim is a terrific player, but even his presence in PSL X will not be compelling enough for me to visit the National Stadium in Karachi," says Junaid who is a big fan of Karachi Kings.
Similar sentiments are echoed by brilliant college lecturer from Karachi, Shamim Nazish who is, otherwise, an avid fan of the game.
"The PSL is a farce and an attempt by the PCB to hoodwink the general public into believing that Pakistan Cricket is alive and kicking," says Shamim.
"I have always supported Pakistan Cricket will all my enthusiasm and have taken pains to reach the stadium for the PSL matches. But enough is enough; I will not watch a single game of PSL now."
Dr Zaid Iqbal from Multan is another case of a disillusioned fan who has been spending a packet to watch the PSL matches at the impressive Multan Cricket Stadium during the past few years.
"I was so so excited to see Multan Sultans beat all the other PSL competitors in the past few seasons and I have followed the team from city to city, but not this time," says Zaid who is now totally off Multan skipper Mohammad Rizwan.
"If the man (Rizwan) can't get Pakistan to win, even in a home tournament like the Champions Trophy, his achievements in the PSL matter zilch to me, really," he says.
In Lahore, siblings Waheed Mirza and Shireen Mirza are also determined to stay away from the newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium, which will be hosting over a dozen PSL matches this season.
"We are not even inquiring about the PSL ticket rates and the general response here in Lahore is very poo," says Waheed, a banker by profession. "Okay, David Warner is coming, so is Shai Hope, Rilee Russow, Tim Siefert and others, but they are no attraction for us anymore because our own players Babar (Azam), Shaheen (Afridi), Naseem (Shah), Saud (Shakel), Abdullah (Shafique) are all big flops," he says. "Why should we support them then by going to the stadiums for PSL?"
Waheed's sister Shireen is equally disgruntled about the Pakistan team's recent failures and will not be watching any matches of PSL 10.
"All the teams in the world including Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies have beaten our team in international matches, so what can motivate us to watch these poorly competitive PSL games?" asks Shireen who works for a leading software house in Lahore.
"My time and money is way too precious to be spent on PSL games. Tell me, which top class player has come out of PSL? We are only producing sub-standard players like Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Iftikhar, Irfan Khan and Usman Khan who cannot win us a single game against top teams," rues Shireen.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ