The PSL is a precursor to cricket finally coming home
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In an attempt to revive international cricket on home soil, Pakistan is gearing up to lure foreign teams by staging the entire Pakistan Super League (PSL) on home grounds for the first time since the league started four years ago.
This is the fifth edition of the PSL league on four venues of the country and comes on the back of the recent series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The back-to-back series not only gives overseas teams the impetus for future visits but also gives Pakistan an opportunity to organize themselves on a grand scale for the benefit of the game’s popularity countrywide.
After being starved and deprived of watching global and home cricket stars- even playing their home series away from home- the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is now incurring huge expenses to organize this series and hoping to get their act together to be self-sufficient in every respect, barring any mishap.
Pakistan cricket was sucked into the vortex of uncertainty in 2009 when the visiting Sri Lankan team was attacked during the second Test in Lahore by militants. The incident led to the death of local policemen and civilians, and injuries to members of the visiting team. From thereon, international teams refused to visit the country for security reasons.
Myself, I made a narrow escape during that attack on the team by hiding behind a tree and then a wall during my walk to the ground to cover the match.
The team bus had passed me moments before the attack, and when I heard gunshots, I was so close that I could see the back of the two shooters.
The whole exercise of putting up with this showpiece is in reality meant to put Pakistan cricket back on its feet and that is where we as a cricketing nation need to be patient. We need to tolerate any shortcomings which may create frustrations, like difficulty getting hold of tickets or reaching the grounds.
Qamar Ahmed
Continued attempts to bring cricket to normality were of no consequence since 2009. A number of teams like the West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka did make brief visits for limited over games but that was not really what Pakistan and the PCB were looking for. They were aiming for Test cricket and cricket at the international level.
Najam Sethi, former PCB Chairman, and Shaharyar Khan before him did whatever possible to attract teams but to no avail.
Thankfully, with the security situation improving with changing times, it has become possible now to have teams in our own backyard once again.
The fifth edition of the PSL league, initially pioneered by Najam Sethi, has grown into a marketable commodity as a super show of the game to match what is on offer in other countries.
Thus, this is opening opportunities for players as well as for those involved in presenting it as great entertainment. And at the same time, it is grooming young home talent for future rebuilding, by being in the company of former greats like Sir Viv Richards, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Moin Khan, Hashim Amla and the rest.
The benefits emanating from their company and coaching will no doubt leave them with a rich and sound experience to improve on their game.
What really is of utmost importance is the fact that those who, in the PSL’s years of infancy, was unsure of visiting Pakistan for security reasons, have now landed in the country-- telling the world that Pakistan and its home grounds are safe and cricket can be resumed at all levels.
The whole exercise of putting up with this showpiece is in reality meant to put Pakistan cricket back on its feet and that is where we as a cricketing nation need to be patient. We need to tolerate any shortcomings which may create frustrations, like difficulty getting hold of tickets or reaching the grounds.
In the last few years of its existence, the PSL extravaganza has gained in quality and in standards. Islamabad United have twice clinched the crown and the Quetta Gladiators once. But others like the Karachi Kings, the Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar Zalmi, and Multan Sultans are as much in the running for the trophy.
To be played in four centers of the country, this tournament with a million-dollar tag as prize money, could become a precursor for future tours to come and that is what the PCB and our cricket-mad nation is hoping for-- to relive days of old when the cricket grounds of this country buzzed with the excitement of watching the stars of the sport in the flesh.
*Qamar Ahmed is former first-class cricketer from Pakistan, commentator and veteran sports journalist who has covered 400 test matches for the world top media outlets. Twitter: @qamaruk
