‘T20 League in UAE for financial purposes’

PCB chief also says it will attract top players who may not want to play in Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan said the board plans to stage its inaugural T20 league edition in the UAE for financial gains and to attract top players from around the world.

The PCB’s announcement of holding its franchise-based T20 league in the UAE was highly criticised by former cricketers and experts who believe the event should be held in Pakistan after the success of Zimbabwe’s visit to Lahore last month.

“Financial gain is the one of the major factors involved in our decision to stage the league in the UAE,” said Shaharyar while speaking to reporters in Lahore. “Experts have told us that in order to gain profits, we need the big names to take part in the league, and that will not happen if we host it in Pakistan as only second and third grade players will come.”

Shaharyar added that once the project starts and goes into its second or third edition, the board will then consider bringing the league to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, when questioned about PCB’s cold attitude towards the banned Salman Butt, who is fighting to complete his rehabilitation programme to get reprieve just like Mohammad Amir, the PCB chief said that Butt’s failure thus far to accept his role in spot-fixing had not helped his case.

“Initially, he didn’t accept his guilt in the spot-fixing scandal but now we’ve given him a paper to sign so that he can confess. We’ve sent that to the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unity and now they will decide how to proceed on the matter,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th,  2015.

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