LAHORE: After passing of 103 days since announcing to hold the first Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made change in its venue for the second time, taking it back to the UAE.

In its latest announcement about the venue, the Board issued a press release on Thursday, stating: “The PCB announces that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be held from Feb 4-24, 2016 in Dubai and Sharjah, UAE, during which a total of 24 matches will be played.”

Interestingly, only 29 days ago (on Aug 26), the PCB had announced Doha as the PSL venue, shifting the event from the UAE after failing to get reservations of the stadiums, as the Master League organisers had already reserved the grounds. Earlier on June 13, the PCB management had announced staging the PSL in the UAE.

And now on Sept 24, the PCB went back to the UAE again.

The Aug 26 announcement about the venue switch from the UAE to Doha was made by PSL chairman Najam Sethi during a press conference in Lahore.

“After extensive negotiations with various stakeholders, the PSL Governing Council has decided to lock Doha as its preferred location for the tournament. The five-team tournament will take place in February next year with a total of 24 matches scheduled to take place in the first edition,” Sethi had said in Lahore.

“We are starting with five teams in order to build the value of our franchises and we will expand the number of teams in the coming editions.”

The latest venue (UAE) has been announced four days after the PSL logo unveiling ceremony was held in Lahore. The said announcement was expected at that grand logo unveiling function, but the declaration was held back, mainly due to fear the venue shift announcement on such an occasion will not convey a positive picture of the PSL.

Serious efforts are required to hold the event according to the plan and with success, if the PCB wants to avoid any further loss to its creditability, which has already been hit due to the PSL postponement in 2013 and now frequent changes of the venues during the last 103 days.

The idea to hold the PSL was first floated in 2008 during Dr Nasim Ashraf era but so far it could not materialise. In January 2013, a logo unveiling ceremony was also held in Lahore when Zaka Ashraf was heading the PCB.

Meanwhile, the Thursday press release also read: “The PSL has already floated tenders for broadcasters and producers. This will be followed by a tendering process for sponsorships in the second week of October.

“Franchise owners will be inducted from mid to end November after which the foreign and local players will be drafted and teams constituted,” said Sethi, chairman of the PSL Governing Council.

“Some of the big names who have consented to play the PSL include Kevin Pietersen, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Luke Wright, Shakib Al Hasan, Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine and Angelo Mathews,” he stated.

“Five teams — Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore and Islamabad — will be vying for glory in the first edition of PSL. The teams will comprise world’s top T20 players with the latest tally of foreign player signing consents standing at an impressive 132. The players will be selected through a draft process in December.

“There is a pool of top coaches also from which franchise owners will be able to pick and chose,” said Sethi.

“The PSL will offer up to $1 million in prize money. Each franchise will be able to draft players and coaches for the team within a budget of $1 million,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2015

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