#Pakistan to Launch T20 #Cricket Super League http://on.wsj.com/1MWL3JD via @WSJIndia

Top cricketers are lining up to take part in Pakistan’s first Twenty20 cricket league starting next year, officials said, hoping to boost the standard of the sport in the country and the fortunes of its national team.

The Pakistan Super League, with total prize money of $1 million, will be an annual competition of Twenty20-format cricket, like the Indian Premier League, and will be held Feb. 4 to Feb. 24 next year.

But despite the name, and because of security concerns, the league won’t actually be played in Pakistan. All games will take place in the United Arab Emirates.

In its first year, the Pakistan Cricket Board said, the league will have five franchises, one from each of the cricket-mad country’s four provinces, and the fifth representing the capital Islamabad.

“When it’s launched, this will be the second-top league in the world,” said Najam Sethi, chairman of the PSL’s governing council, on Sunday. “India, Pakistan, [the] Middle East, our populations are so huge and there’s such interest in watching cricket that the financial feasibility is fulfilled just by them.”

Twenty20 is the shortest official format of the sport, with both sides playing 20 overs each, compared with 50 overs each in one-day internationals or five-day test matches.

In recent years, it has also been the most commercially successful form of the game because of its fast pace and intensity, as teams try to score maximum runs in the short time allotted.

In addition to India, other major cricket-playing nations like Australia and England have also set up professional Twenty20 leagues in recent years. Pakistani officials have privately described the league as “critical” for cricket in the country.

Pakistan hasn’t hosted a major sporting event since the Sri Lankan national cricket team was attacked while on the way to a game in Lahore by militants in 2009. Foreign teams refused to visit citing fears over security. Earlier this year, Zimbabwe became the first international team to play cricket in Pakistan in six years.

The country’s isolation from the global sports circuit has not only resulted in revenue losses worth millions of dollars, but has also stunted the development of Pakistani cricketers, officials say.

“The experience [Pakistani players] will get, playing with different players from around the world…in different teams, will be good for Pakistan,” said Wasim Akram, former national team captain.

Mr. Sethi of the Pakistan Cricket Board said “around 120” foreign players have signed on to be part of the draft, including high-profile cricketers like England’s Kevin Pietersen and Chris Gayle from the West Indies.

“Absolutely buzzing to be a part of the Pakistani mela [festival] coming up in February,” Mr. Pietersen said in a video posted on the league’s official Facebook page last week.

Securing top players is crucial to ensuring the interest of broadcasters and advertisers, officials said, with rights to be awarded in the coming weeks.

The tournament will be played at two venues in the U.A.E.—Dubai and Sharjah—where Pakistani cricket authorities hope to attract large crowds.

“In the one-day and Twenty20 format matches we have played in the U.A.E. in recent years, most have been sell-outs,” one official said. “It’s not just the hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis there. [The] U.A.E. is a huge cricket market with fans from all over the world.” 

#Pakistan Super League: #Karachi attracts highest bid as 5 teams sold for $93 million. #cricket #PSL http://www.emirates247.com/sports/cricket/pakistan-super-league-kar... …

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has sold five franchise rights for the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) for $93 million for a period of 10 years.

Five companies bought the Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, and Quetta teams.

Salman Iqbal, CEO of ARY Group, successfully bought the Karachi franchise for an undisclosed amount while Quetta’s rights were sold to Omar Associates.

Qatar Oil snapped up the Lahore franchise, Leonine Global Sports bought Islamabad bought the Islamabad team while Javed Afridi, CEO of Haier Group and a long-timer partner of Pakistan cricket, won rights for the Peshawar franchise.

“This is a major achievement in our PSL journey. The best part is that all team owners are ardent cricket fans and their dedication will make this league a success,” Najam Sethi, chairman of the PSL, said.

Sethi says coaches will be chosen over the next 10 days, and players' draft will be held later this month.

In another development, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) joined the PSL as title sponsor for the first three years of the league.

As a result of this partnership, the league will now officially be known as the HBL Pakistan Super League.

"HBL’s association with Pakistan Super League is another indication of established brands partnering with the league,” said Sethi.

Having reserved production rights to ensure international standard coverage, PSL’s broadcast arrangements have also been finalised for the next three years with Sunset+Vine as the producers.

Matches will be aired in Pakistan on Ten Sports and PTV Sports. Global TV rights for the same duration have been sold to Tech Front, a UAE-based media rights acquisition company.

Commenting on this development, Najam Sethi said: “Having awarded production rights to Sunset+Vine, the next step was to ensure that we get the maximum number of eyeballs and I would like to welcome our media rights partners.”

“The sale of all commercial rights - broadcast, franchise, and sponsorship - is perfectly in line with the league’s budgetary estimates,” added Sethi.

The first edition of the PSL will take place from February 4 to 23 with matches taking place in Dubai and Sharjah.

Two Australians among 10 BBL players picked up on opening day of Pakistan Super League draft
Australian allrounder Shane Watson and former Test and ODI wicketkeeper Brad Haddin have been picked by Islamabad United on the opening day of the Pakistan Super League draft, held in Lahore on Monday. The Aussie duo, currently playing in the KFC Big Bash League, will join forces for the Islamabad franchise in the first edition of Pakistan’s T20 league, scheduled to take place in the UAE from February 4 to 23. Watson was picked from the top 'Icon' category of players, which has price tag of 200,000 USD, whereas Haddin was selected from the Diamond category (70,000 USD). Haddin was originally placed in the Platinum category (140,000 USD) but slipped to Diamond after going unpicked in the first three rounds. Islamabad United will be coached by former Australia Test and ODI batsman Dean Jones, while Pakistan’s legendary bowler Wasim Akram will be their team director.

Australian fast bowler Brett Lee was not picked up, mainly due to his commitment with the Masters Champions League (MCL) in Feburary, while the other Australians who went unsold are also involved in the MCL; Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Shaun Tait and Ben Laughlin.

The first pick of the draft on Monday was no surprise, with Pakistan’s T20 captain Shahid Afridi snapped up by Peshawar Zalmi, who had traded their pick with Islamabad before the draft in bid to get the big-hitting allrounder. Another Pakistan allrounder and former captain Shoaib Malik was bagged by Karachi Kings as an Icon player. The remaining two Icon players picked up were Kevin Pietersen and Chris Gayle, who will play for Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars respectively.

In some other marquee signings, Peshawar bagged former World T20 winning captain Darren Sammy, Karachi picked up Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, Islamabad pocketed the IPL 2015’s player of the tournament Andre Russell and Lahore Qalandars went for IPL 2015’s leading wickettaker Dwyane Bravo.

Ten of the players picked up on the opening day are currently playing the in Big Bash League in Australia. The returning fast bowler Mohammad Aamir, who was in the Golden Catgeory (50,000 USD), was picked by Karachi as soon as he became available. None of the Sri Lankans were picked from the draft as most of them will only be available for part of the tournament; Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have signed with the MCL and will be unavailable until February 14, while current players like Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera will be on international assignment in India.

The other notable players not picked up were Pakistan’s World T20 winning captain Younis Khan, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, England duo James Anderson and Ian Bell and Kiwi opener Jesse Ryder. Afridi (Peshawar), Malik (Karachi), Sarfraz Ahmad (Quetta), Misbah-ul-Haq (Islamabad) are likely to captain their respective franchises, while Lahore - having not picked an experienced local player - appears to be the only team that may go with an overseas player as captain.


http://www.cricket.com.au/news/pakistan-super-league-draft-psl-t20-... 

PAKISTAN SUPER LEAGUE DRAFT

Peshawar Zalmi Overseas: Darren Sammy, Chris Jordan, Tamim Iqbal, Jim Allenby, Dawid Malan, Brad Hodge Local: Shahid Afridi (icon), Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Junaid Khan, Aamer Yamin, Imran Khan Jr., Shahid Yousuf, Abdur Rehman, Musadiq Ahmed, Hassan Ali, Asghar, Israrullah, Taj Wali

Karachi Kings Overseas: Shakib Al Hasan, Ravi Bopara, Lendl Simmons, James Vince, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tillakaratne Dilshan Local: Shoaib Malik (icon), Sohail Tanvir, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Aamir, Bilawal Bhatti, Iftikhar Ahmad, Nauman Anwar, Usama Mir, Sohail Khan, Mir Hamza, Saifullah Bangash, Shahzaib Hassan, Fawad Alam

Islamabad United Overseas: Shane Watson (icon), Andre Russell, Samuel Badree, Brad Haddin, Sam Billings, Ashar Zaidi Local: Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Irfan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Sami, Khalid Latif, Babar Azam, Imran Khalid, Kamran Ghulam, Umar Amin, Rumman Raees, Amad Butt, Saeed Ajmal, Hussain Talat, Umar Siddique

Quetta Gladiators Overseas: Kevin Pietersen (icon), Jason Holder, Luke Wright, Elton Chigumbura, Mohammad Nabia, Kumar Sangakkara Local: Sarfraz Ahmad, Ahmad Shahzad, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Umar Gul, Bilal Asif, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Nawaz, Saad Nasim, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Bismillah Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Ramiz Raja Jr.

Lahore Qalandars Overseas: Chris Gayle (icon), Dwyane Bravo, Mustafizur Rehman, Kevon Cooper, Cameron Delport Local: Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Sohaib Maqsood, Zafar Gohar, Hammad Azam, Zia-ul-Haq, Zohaib Khan, Azhar Ali, Naved Yasin, Adnan Rasool, Abdul Razzaq, Mukhtar Ahmad, Ehsan Adil, Imran Butt

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/pakistan-super-league-draft-wrap-up-...

Watson misfires in #Pakistan Super League's historic match #PSLrocksCricket #ISLAMABADvQUETTA http://www.foxsports.com.au/foxsports/cricket/pakistan-super-league... … via @foxsportsaus

Watson, one of the most sought-after commodities on the Twenty20 market, couldn’t get Islamabad United over the line against a strong Quetta Gladiators line-up.

The Australian all-rounder, who just a few days ago made a century in a T20 International against India at the SCG, opened the batting for Islamabad and hit the first boundary in the tournament’s history.

But a short while later he was trudging back to the pavilion after missing an attempted pull shot off young spinner Mohammad Nawaz and being bowled for a frustrating 15 off 27 balls.

Nawaz finished with stunning figures of 4-13 off four overs to help restrict Islamabad to just 7-128 - a score that would have been worse if not for some big hitting late in the innings from captain Misbah-ul-Haq (41 off 28) and Sydney Thunder’s West Indian sensation Andre Russell (35 off 20).

However the runs were nowhere near enough to stop the Gladiators from storming to victory with eight wickets to spare.

Englishman Luke Wright, who plays for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League, was the standout batsman with 86 runs from just 53 balls, an innings that featured 11 fours and four sixes.

Pietersen was trapped lbw by Pakistani journeyman Imran Khalid before Nawaz returned to cap a memorable game by scoring 22 not out as Quetta cruised to victory with four overs remaining.

‘#Pakistan safe’ #Zimbabwe all set to send #cricket team for tour in 2017. #PslFinalLahore http://www.chronicle.co.zw/pakistan-safe-zim-set-to-send-cricket-te... …

ISLAMABAD — Good news is pouring in after the huge success of Pakistan Super League (PSL)
final in Lahore.

The recent development is that Zimbabwe has signalled its intent to send its cricket squad to
Pakistan.

It was announced by Zimbabwe Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane, who held
a meeting with Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Co-ordination Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada.

Hlongwane was leading a delegation that called on the minister, a day after meeting the
country’s cricket board chairman Shaharyar Khan.
Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani is also in the delegation.
During the meeting, on behalf of the government of Pakistan, Pirzada formally invited the
Zimbabwe government to send a cricket team to Pakistan.
The Zimbabwe authorities positively responded to Pakistan’s invitation. Hlongwane assured that
he would ask his country’s cricket board to consider sending the team to Pakistan.
Hlongwane was of the view that Pakistan is a safe country for cricket.
He applauded the smooth conduct of the PSL nal
and thanked the government for foolproof
security arrangements.
He also thanked the people of Pakistan for their warm hospitality. — Samaa.

Back From Exile, Pakistan's Cricket Push Lures Advertisers
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-13/back-from-exile-...

The success of the (PSL Final) match (in Lahore) was a rare bit of good news for Pakistan’s cricket industry, which has lost millions of dollars in revenue since militants attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team to the same stadium in Lahore eight years ago. Companies including MCB Bank Ltd. and PepsiCo Inc. want to leverage the sport to reach out to fans in the cricket-crazy nation of 200 million people, where Euromonitor International estimates disposable income has more than doubled since 2010.

After successfully hosting the final, Pakistan is hoping to show investors it can safely hold and build a sports industry that’s a fraction of the size of neighboring rival India, home to cricket’s largest market. Only Zimbabwe has played an international match in Pakistan since the attack on the Sri Lankan team.


The PSL, which started holding fixtures a year ago, has a market value of up to $300 million, said Arif Habib, a business tycoon and PSL director. That could increase as much as five-fold if more matches were played at home, he said. That compares with London-based Brand Finance’s $3.5 billion valuation of the Indian Premier League. It would also be a positive signal to investors looking at the country’s security climate.

“That will encourage others to come here,” Habib said in an interview in his Karachi office decorated with cricket trophies. “The perception of Pakistan is worse than it really is.”

Introduced to the region during the colonial era by the British East India Company, cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia and is often said to be an obsession.

More companies are now lining up to put cash behind the Pakistan league. MCB Bank, the nation’s third-largest lender by market value, wants to enter with a “dominating” advertising position next season, following competitor Habib Bank Ltd., the current main sponsor, said Rais Ahmed Alvi, MCB’s head of marketing. That’s despite prices set to rise 50 percent next year, Alvi said.

Pakistan’s household consumption has risen to 80 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2015 from 68 percent in 1990, World Bank data show. That compares with 59 percent in India and a global average of 58 percent.

“There’s tremendous potential,” Shahryar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and a former foreign secretary, said in an interview at the stadium. “The whole object of the exercise is to open the doors to foreign teams coming here and feeling relatively safe.”

Pakistan plans to build secure accommodation for international teams, with negotiations underway with Serena Hotels LLC for five-star lodging next to Karachi’s stadium, he said. When asked if there are now plans to bring back international games to Pakistan, the International Cricket Council said its board will consult with security experts and its Pakistan task team next month to decide on future steps.

Yet despite the purchase of bullet-proof vehicles and offers to foreign players of thousands of dollars, many of the international stars, including England’s Kevin Pietersen playing for Quetta Gladiators, refused to travel to Pakistan, where Peshawar Zalmi won the title.

Critics of the cash incentives for overseas players include Imran Khan, the 64-year-old former national cricket captain who led Pakistan to its only world cup victory in 1992.

New ICC finance model breaks up Big Three

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/1094846.html

BCCI's revenue share for 2015-23 stands at US$ 293 milion, against its demand of US$ 570 million © ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Pakistan's PCB to get $132 million 

New ICC finance model breaks up Big Three

DANIEL BRETTIG

It started with money, and it has ended with money. The "Big Three" financial model drawn up by the boards of India, England and Australia unveiled amid much consternation three years ago is no more, replaced by a plan to vastly reduce the BCCI's share of ICC revenue and offer identical amounts to seven of the game's Full Member nations.

After a week of intense negotiations that saw the BCCI's opposition to change outmaneuvered by the collective will of the rest, the amount of ICC revenue to be handed out to each nation is now as follows. The BCCI will receive US$293m across the eight-year cycle, the ECB US$143m, Zimbabwe Cricket US$94m and the remaining seven Full Members US$132m each. Associate Members will receive total funding of US$280m.

While this distribution is not a complete rollback to the equal funding from ICC events that Full Members used to receive, it is a considerable distance from the US$440 million the BCCI stood to earn under the Big Three model. The distribution to the ECB has reduced marginally from around $US150 million, while Cricket Australia's share is similar to what it previously received, albeit now in line with those afforded to South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and West Indies. These changes were passed by 14 votes to one, with the BCCI the sole dissenter.

Battles over the ICC events financial model have been drawn out over a period of years, starting with the ascension of Shashank Manohar as the governing body's chairman following the exit of his predecessor and rival N Srinivasan, widely considered the Big Three's chief architect. Manohar stunned the cricket world by stating his intent to resign earlier this year, but was cajoled into staying on until the ICC annual conference in June, where the above changes are set to be ratified.

"This is another step forward for world cricket and I look forward to concluding the work at the Annual Conference," Manohar stated in an ICC release. "I am confident we can provide a strong foundation for the sport to grow and improve globally in the future through the adoption of the revised financial model and governance structure."

The governance structure of which Manohar spoke was the other major outcome from this week's round of meetings in Dubai. The ICC's constitution is to be extensively redrawn, with numerous changes to the way the global game is run and the way that the performance and eligibility of member nations are assessed. These constitutional changes, which were passed by 12 votes to two, include:

• Opening a pathway to include additional Full Members in the future subject to meeting membership criteria

• Removing the Affiliate level of membership so there are only two levels; Full Member and Associate Member

• Introducing an independent female director to the board

• Introducing membership criteria and forming a Membership Committee to consider membership applications

• Introducing a deputy chairman of the board who will be a sitting director elected by the board to stand in for the chairman in the event that he or she is unable to fulfil their duties

• Equally weighting votes for all board members regardless of membership status

• Entitling all members to attend the Annual General Meeting

At the same time as the financial and governance changes were being debated and ultimately passed, talks continued on greater context for international cricket, via the creation of a Test match Championship and an ODI league. Progress on this front has slowed, partly due to discussions around the impact of windows for domestic Twenty20 tournaments around the world, most recently the competition announced by South Africa.

More promising was an acknowledgement by the BCCI that it will reconsider its longstanding opposition to cricket's inclusion in the Olympics, a move that other members of the ICC Chief Executives Committee are strongly in favour of pursuing. There was also further discussion of efforts to return international cricket to Pakistan after a gap of eight years. The ICC's chief executive David Richardson was grateful for the amount of progress made.

"It has been a very productive week," he said. "Progress has been made on a number of significant issues, in particular around international cricket structures. Efforts to find a solution, enhancing the context of international bilateral cricket and retaining the relevance of the international game, will continue."

Reaction to the game's new landscape is likely to be varied, much as the Big Three model resulted in heated discussion around the world. In particular, the world awaits the BCCI's response with interest.

IPL vs PSL

Pakistan was the among the last Test playing nations to host a T20 league, but still attracted some big name including Shane Watson, Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle in the first season, and a whole lot of viewership from the nation’s cricket fans.
In the IPL, a team can acquire players through five ways: annual auction, signing domestic players, signing uncapped players, trading players, and signing replacements. PSL, on the other hand, holds a draft where players are categorized in five groups – Diamond, Silver, Platinum, Gold and Emerging.

Since its inception in 2008, the Indian Premier League has had at least eight teams in every season. The PSL on other hand, has just five teams - Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United, Lahore Qalandars, Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings.
The IPL has always boasted of encouraging young cricketing talent from around the nation, and allows no more than ten overseas players out of the maximum of 27. The Pakistani league on the other hand, has a restriction of only four foreign players and a minimum of 12 local ones.
Duration of Tournaments
The Pakistan Super League comprises just 24 matches, with each team playing the other twice. Therefore, the event ends in less than a month. The IPL on the other hand goes on for over a month, keeping the audiences engaged for a longer period. This year the IPL season will start on 5 April and end on 21 May while PSL will go on from 9 February to 7 March.
Monetary Comparison
The winners of the 2016 IPL got a staggering Rs 20 crore ($ 3 million), an amount that was the total prize money in its first edition. The PSL on the other hand, offered a million dollars in total as the prize money in its first edition.
Even during their respective first teams auctions, the total money generated in the IPL was $723.5 million as opposed to PSL’s $18.6 million.

https://www.thequint.com/sports/2017/02/08/5-ways-pakistan-super-le...

PCB’s Rs 4.5bn ( $43 million) annual budget approved by Board of Governors

http://dailytimes.com.pk/sports/13-Jun-16/pcbs-rs-45bn-annual-budge...


LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) annual budget to the tune of Rs 4.5 billion (US$ 43 million) has been approved by its Board of Governors (BoG). Talking to reporters after the BoG meeting, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan claimed that almost all short-term and long-term plans envisaged by the PCB in the wake of poor performance of the Pakistan team during the last World T20 and Asia Cup T20 had been implemented in order to resurrect the game of cricket in the country. Shaharyar said though the budget amounting to Rs 4.5 billion was approved, the PCB would try its level best to reduce its expenditure. “There was extensive debate on the budget but finally it was approved,” he said. Shaharyar said that after the disappointing performances in the last Asia Cup T20 and World T20, the PCB had taken several decisions to bring back Pakistan cricket on the right track. “We informed the BoG that short-term plans have fully been implemented, since a new selection committee has been formed by appointing Inzamamul Haq as the new chief selector, apart from replacing Shahid Afridi with Sarfraz Ahmad as T20 captain and relieving Waqar Younis to hire Mickey Arthur as head coach,” added the PCB chief. “And to bring improvement in fitness, a boot camp was held successfully in Kakul recently. Also, we have received reports that the camp in Abbottabad was very successful due to which it has now been decided that such camps will be held every year to promote fitness culture,” Shaharyar further said.

Talking about the PCB long-term plans, the chairman said: “Under the long-term plans 95 percent work has been completed with Mudassar Nazar being appointed as director academies. He will join the academy from Tuesday (tomorrow). Mudassar, the chairman said, was a very experienced and suitable person to run the academies, adding that the director academies would also set up new academies across the country. He said that separate school, club and university cricket programmes had almost been finalized, adding that around 1,000 schools both from private and government sectors would be competing which would help enhance the base of players to 10,000. “The PCB is trying to get sponsors for the regional bodies too.” The BoG also welcomed newly appointed head coach Mickey Arthur and had asked the PCB to fully support him.

Shaharyar also said the BoG decided that coaches, trainers, players and other support staff of the national team would be given reasonable targets to achieve in the six-month time period. “After every six months, the target will be reviewed in order to analyze the performances. However, there will be no action against anyone if the targets are not achieved,” he pointed out. Nonetheless, fresh targets will be given as part of a review course. Similarly, head coach Arthur will also be given targets.

He said the BoG admitted that the standard of pitches and grounds in Pakistan was not matching up to the international standard. “The BoG has vowed to give special attention to bringing improvements in pitches and grounds. Our pitches are dull and not up to the mark. All over the world the ball carries to the chest level of the wicketkeeper at fast tracks but we hardly observe such things in Pakistan,” he lamented.

Talking about changes in the domestic structure which could not be put on the right track even after many decades, the chairman said that now it was decided that eight teams each of regions and departments would play separately in the National One-day Championship. “In the four-day format, there won’t be any change. T20 tournaments will only be held on regional level.” The decisions, said the chairman, aimed at improving the quality of the domestic cricket.

Pakistan Super League stars credited with Pakistan's Champions Trophy win: 

http://www.news18.com/cricketnext/news/the-magic-of-pakistan-cricke...


The change of captain, retirement of senior players and induction of talented youngsters into the team at the right time and age and two years of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Dubai have all contributed. 

The last changes in the side (exclusion of Wahab Riaz and Ahmad Shehzad and inclusion of Fakhar Zaman and Junaid Khan) made a difference. All of a sudden the world’s best bowling attack was born, restricting the top four teams (South Africa, Sri Lanka, England and India) to under 250. Gone were the complaints about the game being unfairly dominated by the bat, the scrutiny of bat sizes and 300 being a par score.

Before PSL, the jump from Pakistan’s first class cricket into international cricket was a huge one and many youngsters were found lacking. The PSL changed that. The bright stars of today’s Pakistan’s cricket like Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Sharjeel Khan, Ruman Raees (and many more) were already playing first class cricket in Pakistan. PSL polished them with top international players and coaches and readied them for the international arena.

Pakistan were hopeless at the start of the tournament and actually played like a number eight, which was their ranking when they came in the tournament. But their batting — often considered fragile —managed to post 338 for four with the help of a fabulous century by Fakhar Zaman who amassed 114 off 106 balls.

Zaman, who is a Mardan born and averages over 50 in 50 overs cricket, finished the tournament as he highest run getter for Pakistan after making most of his luck when he edged one off Jasprit Bumrah only to see that the bowler had overstepped. 

Pakistan had gone 35 ODIs without a century stand before the semi-finals but Fakhar in partnership with Azhar Ali stitched back to back 100-run opening stands. 

Pakistan’s comeback in the tournament was largely due to Fakhar’s effort at the top. It is remarkable that the left-handed opening batsman now has two 50s and a hundred in first four ODIs of his career.

India captain Virat Kohli in the press conference admitted that their plans didn’t work against Fakhar, even though the batsman was playing high risk shots.

Pakistan cricket is often termed mercurial however their four back to back wins have proved that they can be consistent performers too. 

A nation that was written off before the start of the tournament managed to win hearts with the spirit of the youth. 

Hasan Ali, the player of the tournament, took thirteen wickets which is joint-most with West Indies' Jerome Taylor in a one edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. 

“I dedicate this victory to my mother who always fasts whenever I am playing," said Hasan after the victory. 

He demonstrated an intelligent cricketing mind by using his pace variations and took regular wickets in the middle overs against South Africa, Sri Lanka, England and India. 

Pakistan are often criticised for their lack of structure but have always been a team of momentum. If history is anything to go by their wins in tournaments have come at the back of peaking at the right time. 

Junaid got eight wickets in the tournament and proved to be a great new ball user along with Mohammad Amir. He also played a vital role in the middle over by giving breakthroughs and containing runs.

Ahmed Shehzad, who is looking a completely different batsman from what he was four years ago, was replaced by Zaman. 

Zaman was streaky in the beginning against India with a lot of top edges but overcame his troubles to played a brave knock. He became the first Pakistan batsman to score 100 in the final of an ICC event. 

The left-hander was previously part of the Pakistan Navy. He has taken a liking to left arm spinners and as a first class player demonstrated his command over them when he smashed Ravindera Jadeja to all parts of the ground.

Very are proud to Pakistan for Cricket. Enjoy PSL 2019 with Best Matrimonial Site in Pakistan

IPL 2023 Auction: PCB’s googly for IPL Auction, schedules PSL Draft on 15th DECEMBER attracts 500 overseas players including many IPL hopefuls

https://www.insidesport.in/ipl-2023-auction-pcbs-googly-for-ipl-auc...

IPL 2023 Auction – On December 15, Karachi is slated to host the player draft for PSL 8. The players’ draft of the Pakistan Super League 2023 has attracted more than 500 foreign players, including Australians Matthew Wade and Aaron Finch. This came as an unexpected googly for the Indian Premier League 2023 whose Player Auction is set to take place on 23rd December 2022 in Kochi. Notably, many IPL hopefuls will also be taking part in the PSL draft. Follow InsideSport.IN for LIVE updates about IPL 2023 and PSL 2023

IPL 2023 Auction: PCB’s googly for IPL Auction, schedules PSL Draft on 15th DECEMBER attracts 500 overseas players including many IPL hopefuls: Follow LIVE
According to the list of players with Geo News, the majority of players who have enrolled for PSL are from England, where 138 players will be available for franchises to select for the league’s most recent season.

The following players have registered for the players’ draught: 46 players from Afghanistan, 16 from Australia, 30 players from Bangladesh, 6 from New Zealand, 26 from South Africa, 62 from Sri Lanka, 11 from Zimbabwe, and about 40 players from the West Indies.