PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan at a press conference in Lahore. Arif Ali—AFP
PCB claims Pakistan Super League, which was also cancelled last year, couldn’t be scheduled ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Cricket authorities were Tuesday forced to cancel an ambitious Twenty20 league project due a lack of time to schedule the tournament ahead of the World Cup, leaving questions over its future.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had planned to hold the Pakistan Super League (PSL), based on the lucrative Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash, in the United Arab Emirates in January next year in an attempt to recoup huge financial losses. The losses were incurred after Pakistan failed to stage any international cricket following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. The PSL was also cancelled last year due to logistical problems.
The PCB said time constraints ahead of next year’s World Cup—in Australia and New Zealand in February-March—forced the decision. “PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan met the bidders of the PSL and explained to them why it had become extremely difficult to organize the PSL and among the reasons behind taking this decision was the paucity of lead time,” said a PCB release.
Khan said the board was committed to holding the event in the future, it added.
The PCB last year said it had expected to raise $100 million from the T20 league. Former players had also criticized the ambitious project, saying it was not possible for the PCB to stage such an event with top players busy in international cricket and would demand a huge amount of money from the PCB.