PSL is not a rival to IPL: Najam Sethi 

 

LAHORE: Pakistan Super League (PSL) chairman Najam Sethi has dismissed speculations that the tournament is directly going to compete against the Indian Premier League (IPL). “No, the PSL is not a rival to the IPL,” Sethi was quoted as saying Wednesday. “The IPL is in a league of its own. There are more people in India than anywhere else in the world. And then all the top broadcasters are Indian, so I don’t think there is any comparison between the two and I don’t think there will be any competition because the leagues will be played at different times,” he added.

The Twenty20 extravaganza is going to take place from February 4 to 23 in Dubai and Sharjah with the winning pool estimated at $1million. Home favourites such as Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and the returning Muhammad Aamir will be joined by specialists Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen and many more in the five-team event. Sethi also said that the PSL was open to the idea of including Indian players but their respective board does not permit the players to participate in any other league except the IPL. “Indian players are not going to be playing in the PSL. It’s not because we don’t want them, we do want them, but the Indian cricket board doesn’t let them play in any other league apart from their own. Maybe in the future that will happen.”Pakistan faced isolation from hosting international matches in the country until Zimbabwe visited the country for a low-key tour in May 2015 and Sethi believes that was the first building block. The PSL chief believes the idea is to organise the event in Pakistan in the upcoming years. “The ultimate goal is to bring this tournament back to Pakistan,” he said. “We are going to have a clean ride next year; I’m not saying it’s going to happen but we are going to try and have one or two PSL matches in Pakistan. We are happy to pay players more if they are happy to play in Pakistan. We are also planning on bringing some foreign teams to Pakistan this year and if we can demonstrate a track record to show that security has been taken care of, then maybe the PSL can move back to Pakistan sooner rather than later.”