KARACHI: Cricket-crazy fans in Pakistan will be able to enjoy the whole of their Twenty20 league on home soil for the first time when the star-studded fifth edition begins Thursday in Karachi.
The month-long Pakistan Super League (PSL) will see top internationals such as Dale Steyn of South Africa, Shane Watson and Chris Lynn of Australia, West Indian Carlos Brathwaite, and England’s Alex Hales and Jason Roy among 36 overseas players in six teams.
Matches will be shared between Karachi, Rawalpindi, Multan, and Lahore after security concerns had caused most games in previous years to be played in the United Arab Emirates, with only the final stages of the last three editions being held at home.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani believes the willingness of overseas stars to sign up illustrates how security has improved in a country where the army has fought a militant insurgency for years.
“So many players touring Pakistan shows the confidence they have in playing in Pakistan,” said Mani, who took over last year with the aim of bringing cricket home.
“For the fans, this will be a long-awaited opportunity to see their cricketing heroes live in action and reinforce their love for this great game after being left deprived.”
A generation of Pakistan’s youth had not watched top-flight cricket at home since a deadly attack on the Sri Lankan Test team’s bus in 2009 prompted international sides to shun the country.
Security improved enough by 2015 for limited-overs internationals to be hosted but Test cricket returned only in December after a decade’s exile.
“It’s important that it goes off well, for the future of Pakistan cricket,” said former Australian batsman Dean Jones, who is the coach of Karachi Kings.
“All the big boys, who are here from overseas, must bring their countries here and play.”
Since hosting Zimbabwe in 2015, Pakistan has provided teams with security normally reserved for visiting heads of state, with hundreds of police guarding stadiums and hotels and the PSL is no different.
Roads to stadiums will be blocked and fans will have to go through multiple security cordons.
Pakistan hosted only the tournament final in 2017, expanding to four matches in 2018 and eight a year ago.
“I am delighted to see the PSL fully staged in Pakistan,” former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed told AFP.
“I welcome all the foreign players and hope they take a good message .. so that in the coming years we have more international teams coming.”
Australia’s limited-overs leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed was born in Pakistan but fled to his adopted country in 2010 after Taliban threats.
“Hopefully it goes safe and sound to bring joys for the whole nation, and youngsters get inspired,” said Ahmed, who will play for the Quetta Gladiators
Six teams — Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalanders Lutan Sultans, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators — will play each other twice in a round-robin phase with the top four contesting play-offs beginning on March 17. The final will take place in Lahore on March 22.
Cricket’s coming home: Pakistan hosts star-studded T20 league
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Cricket’s coming home: Pakistan hosts star-studded T20 league
- Matches will be shared between Karachi, Rawalpindi, Multan and Lahore
- Test cricket returned to Pakistan in December last year after a decade’s exile
Pakistan says 641 Afghan Taliban members killed, over 855 injured in ongoing conflict
- Both neighbors have been engaged in fierce fighting since Feb. 26 after Afghan forces launched retaliatory attacks against Pakistan
- Pakistan information minister says 243 Afghanistan checkposts destroyed, 65 “terrorists and terror support locations” targeted by air
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has killed at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives and injured more than 855 in the ongoing conflict between the two sides since last month, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday.
Fresh clashes between the two neighbors began on Feb. 26 after Afghanistan’s border forces launched attacks against Pakistani military installations. Kabul said the attack was in retaliation for Islamabad’s airstrikes earlier in February. Both forces have since then engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades.
Islamabad has said its airstrikes, which have at times directly targeted the Afghan Taliban government, are aimed at ending Kabul’s support for militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied aiding militant groups.
“Summary of Fitna Al Khawarij/Afghan Taliban losses: 641 killed, 855+ injured, 243 check posts destroyed,” Tarar wrote on social media platform X.
https://x.com/tararattaullah/status/2031687512868159638?s=46
The minister said Pakistani security forces have destroyed 219 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns in the operation so far, and also decimated 65 “terrorists and terror support locations” across Afghanistan by targeting them with airstrikes.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained since the Afghan Taliban seized power in August 2021. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks across the country in recent months that it blames on militants it alleges are based in Afghanistan.
Kabul denies the allegations and insists that its soil is not used by militant groups for attacks against other countries.
While Afghanistan has voiced the desire for dialogue, Pakistan has repeatedly ruled out talks, saying it will continue targeting militant hideouts in Afghanistan through “Operation Ghazab lil Haq” till Kabul desists from supporting militants.
The ongoing conflict between both sides has put the region on heightened alert, as it already suffers from the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran.
