Another T20 event for the ‘sub-standard’

PCB organising another tournament for three new regions.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is organising another Faysal Bank T20 Cup for the three new regions – Dera Murad Jamali, Larkana and Fata – on a double league basis which will be played from December 6 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

The top teams at the end of the league phase will contest the final.

Meanwhile, the players felt that being kept separated from the main event was unfair, citing the example of newcomers Bahawalpur who were given a chance to compete with the best domestic T20 teams of the country.

The players said that Bahawalpur showed their potential after registering three successive wins.

“It’s not right to give us another event as it is open discrimination,” one of the Fata players told The Express Tribune. “Our team isn’t short of talented players and we could’ve also done a good job like Bahawalpur. On one hand, Bahawalpur were granted status of region alongside us, but now we are in a different league and they are in a different one.”



Another player said that the board should stop showing biased attitude as it does not send out a good message. However, he stressed that their aim is to win the title and give a strong performance to get the attention of the PCB.

Meanwhile, the board has maintained that the three sides need to raise their standard of cricket before being given a chance to play in the main tournaments.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2012.