ISLAMABAD: Najam Sethi, the chairman of the PSL, has described the league a gateway to bring international cricket to Pakistan.

“It was a successful event in many ways including revenue generation, leading the PCB to new horizon and to help us in drawing a strategy to work on resumption of international cricket in Pakistan,” Sethi told APP on Wednesday.

He said the success of PSL has elevated the status of Pakistan cricket, helping young home players to perform at a platform alongside world’s top players.

“We can build on the success of PSL and can persuade foreign players to play some matches in Pakistan in its next editions and those matches can be arranged in Karachi and Lahore and through those matches we will try to improve confidence of foreign players,” he said.

Sethi said finally a stage would come when the entire PSL would be played in Pakistan.

“Of course it was a decent revenue generation for us,” he said.

According to some rough estimates, the PSL has generated $US50 million for the PCB.

He praised the response of crowd and viewership of televised matches.

“We had a full house at the final which added to the success of the event.”

Former skipper Wasim Akram felt that the performance of senior players has falsified the notion that T20 cricket was only about young players.

“When Twenty20 cricket started some seven to eight years ago it was thought it was young men’s game. But the reality is that in this format experience also matters,” he said in his comments after the PSL final.

Wasim, who is also a mentor of the Islamabad United team, particularly mentioned the performance of seasoned Dwayne Smith and Brad Haddin, saying they had been regular contributors in Islamabad United’s wins.

The cricket great said he was thrilled at the win stating that it was an incredible journey for the United.

He also acknowledged coach Dean Jones saying he did a great job in the win.

Hailing the overall performance of United, he said, “They played together, gelled well and peaked at the right time.”

Wasim thanked his family, fans and the entire nation for backing the United.

Ramiz Raja, the PSL brand ambassador, described successful holding of the league “a historic moment in Pakistan cricket” which will help bring back international to Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2016