- IPL Ban looming over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Players? - April 3, 2023
- The Surprise Show ft. Multan Sultans - February 23, 2023
- The Hero-Villian Story, ft. Babar Azam and Pakistan Media - January 11, 2023
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has raised questions to the cricket fraternity on the highly significant increase of Indian owners’ investments in the international league cricket arena. The PSL-owning board has posted severe concerns on this newly rising issue as it is in some manner halting PCB’s contracted players to get NOCs in these leagues.
History of Pakistani players playing in India-backed leagues
The last time Pakistani players played in the Indian Premier League was way back in the 2008 edition which was also the inaugural one of the most lustrous leagues of the cricket world. Apart from that, the last time Pakistan and India had a direct face-off in league cricket was in Champions League 2014.
Afterwards, when the CLT20 ended, the direct contests between IndoPak players still seem a dream except for the ICC tournaments. The fans on both sides hope that political tensions normalize and both countries restore bilateral cricketing ties.
Still, the Pakistani players get enough opportunities to play in other cricket leagues apart from IPL but this culture does not seem to have a long-lasting journey either as maximum cricket teams and leagues are now owned by India-backed businessmen.
Also read: How PSL can compete in Indian Premier League?
The SA20, ILT20, and CPL story and Pakistan Cricket
At present, Azam Khan is representing Barbados Royals (Owned by Rajasthan Royal’s owner) while Fatima Sana recently represented them in the women’s version of the league. In the past, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Husnain have represented Trinidad and Tobago Knight Riders (Owned by the owners of Kolkata Knight Riders)
The recently introduced leagues which include SAT20 and the ILT20, have almost all the teams which are directly backed by Indian investors. The case of SAT20, which had its draft last week has no Pakistani players on the teams. The only player among these two leagues that have been picked up from Pakistan is Azam Khan, who’ll represent Desert Vipers an America-owned team. It’s to be noted that these leagues also pose a threat to Pakistan’s marquee event, The PSL as the dates clash with each other
Pakistan Cricket Board to post these concerns
The current PCB chief is a serious deal to handle and has remained on the front foot to portray the right image of Pakistan cricket in front of the world.
The international media reports suggest that Ramiz is in preliminary talks with different boards to establish a system of reciprocal NOC to protect the mutual well-being of the cricket-playing countries.
What do the rest have to say?
Moeen Ali, The England Captain, in his recent interview stated:
“I feel for them, they are missing out financially on a lot of money because they are such good players. It’s political and all that sort of stuff-it’s not black and white, a lot of the time. It is sad because they are such good players and they would only add standard to cricket”
Also read:
