PSL comes home

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) caravan left its UAE base and parked itself in Karachi over the weekend. And the T20 league, now in its fourth year, went through an instant transformation with the change of venue, as Karachi spectators happily greeted Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United at Karachi’s iconic National Stadium on Saturday night. Even though Saturday’s game – the first match of PSL season 4 on Pakistani soil – didn’t feature the local franchise, cricket fans cheered each and every delivery bowled in what was a crucial match for both teams. The huge crowd interest reasserted the fact that if the PSL needs to be a long-term success it will have to come home, fully and permanently. Aware of this fact, the PCB has been taking measures to achieve that target but the progress has been slow – and understandably so.It is difficult to convince foreign players to come and play in Pakistan at a time when the country remains almost a no-go zone for Wester players. But despite all odds, the PCB and other stakeholders need to make it their priority to stage a complete PSL edition on home soil next year. The league should not just entertain crowds in Karachi and Lahore but its matches must also be held in other major cities of Pakistan. Like any business enterprise, the PSL needs to be commercially viable. That cannot happen if the league continues to have a lion’s share of its matches in venues like Dubai where it has failed to really strike a chord.But that’s for next year. For the moment, Pakistani cricket fans can rejoice in the fact that an international league, their very own league, is taking place on home soil despite the ongoing Pak-India situation as well as the usual security concerns which have kept players like South African master blaster AB de Villiers – the PSL’s biggest overseas star this year – away from the Pakistan leg of the league. But for cricket-starved fans in Karachi, that is a minor setback. That’s the sort of spirit which can provide a much-needed shot in the arm to the PSL which needs to stay relevant to survive in a cut-throat and ever-expanding world of T20 leagues.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2ENj9Q8