An inaugural Twenty20 Pakistan Super League will be held in Qatar next year. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) says 40 foreign players from all test-playing countries, except India, have expressed an interest.The tournament will take place from 4 to 24 February 2016 in Doha and will feature five teams playing for prize money of £64,350 ($1m). It will take place in Qatar because of a lack of venues in Dubai, the home of Pakistan cricket since 2009. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had planned a Super Twenty20 league in 2013 but had to postpone it twice — in 2014 and 2015 — over a lack of response from sponsors and logistics problems. Sethi, the head of PCB’s Executive Committee, announced the PSL will be held from 4-24 February next years. The idea behind staging the league was to give Pakistani players a chance to compete with and against top foreign players, something which the national players do not get as international cricket has been suspended in the country since 2009. Pakistan was a no go area for international teams since terrorists’ attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Meanwhile many a critic and ex-player still see the PSL as a gamble which may or may not prove to be PCB’s golden goose. Question marks continue to hang over the cash-rich league at the moment despite Mr Sethi’s claims that all bases have been covered to make it a viable venture. Following a lukewarm response from the UAE as first choice hosts, the PCB opted for Doha as the venue for PSL despite the fact that Qataris as a nation do not naturally take to the game of cricket. While Qatar has made rapid strides in soccer and is all set to stage the Soccer World Cup in 2022, it lacks the basic infrastructure for cricket tournaments, while the sultry weather conditions there are also not ideal for the game. More importantly, the players need the stimulus of an appreciative crowd to deliver their best on the field, particularly in the T20 format, which Doha will woefully lack despite being home to a sizeable South Asian population. While the ICC was browbeaten into creating a special slot for the IPL at the time of its launch, thanks to the tremendous influence India wields in international cricket, Pakistan may not find it so smooth when it comes to foreign teams releasing their players for the PSL. While there is much to celebrate, the challenges for Pakistan are considerable on this front.
pk.shafaqna.com
