Reports | Fifth season of PSL to be played completely in Pakistan
According to a Pakistan Cricket Board official, the fifth edition of Pakistan Super League T20 tournament will be played entirely in Pakistan, unlike the previous editions.. The official also revealed that the tournament will be tentatively held from February 20 to March 22 with the final in Lahore.
Ever since the launch of the PSL in early 2016, the PCB has organised a majority of the matches in Dubai and Sharjah as foreign players were reluctant to travel to Pakistan owing to security concerns. Although the PCB hosted the finals of the last three editions in Pakistan and even went as far as to hosting last eight matches of PSL 4, including the playoffs and title clash in Lahore and Karachi, it will still be a big step in getting all the matches to the country.
As per the PTI report, the PCB has also informed its franchises to only sign on those overseas players who are willing to come and play in Pakistan. Foreign players were also being informed directly that only those cricketers will be included in the draft who have no problems in playing in Pakistan.
The decision of hosting the entire PSL in Pakistan next year has come after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is also the patron-in-chief of cricket in PCB, said he wanted to see all matches of PSL season five to be played at home as security situation had improved in the country. The official has also added that the PCB has already started working on renovating and upgrading venues which will host the PSL matches. 11 games are scheduled in Lahore, nine in Karachi, eight in Rawalpindi, and four in Multan.
This has come as a welcome narrative for PCB as well which is struggling to earn enough money due to lack of matches at home. An official in the PCB said that if PSL is held in Pakistan, the PCB’s earnings from the league will increase dramatically as there would be more gate money and better sponsorship and deals from corporations because of local interest.
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