ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has restricted the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches to Karachi and Lahore only without any spectators, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced on Sunday, as a national austerity plan remains in place due to rising global oil prices.
The 11th edition of the Twenty20 cricket tournament is due to kick off on March 26, which will feature eight franchises competing across multiple venues. The event will conclude in early May.
However, this year’s PSL follows Pakistan’s announcement of austerity measures to conserve fuel amid rising prices due to the ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran.
Naqvi said they consulted the prime minister and decided not to allow crowd in the stadium during PSL matches as long as the Middle East crisis is going on.
“I pray that the crisis ends soon and the crowd comes back to the field,” the PCB chairman said at a presser, adding they had also limited the match venues to only two cities.
“If there are no fans, then there is no point in going to so many cities. So that is why we have kept Lahore and Karachi [only].”
The PSL has become a key pillar of the country’s cricket economy, providing financial stability to the PCB and serving as a talent pipeline for the national team.
The league, which features a mix of local and international players, already had six city-based teams, including Karachi Kings, Multan Sultans, Lahore Qalandars, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.
Last month, PCB sold the Multan Sultans franchise for a record Rs2.45 billion ($8.7 million) after its owner, Ali Tareen, announced in Dec. that he was walking away from the ownership of the franchise.
Prior to that, FKS, an aviation and health care conglomerate based in the US which also runs the Chicago Kingsmen team, bought the Hyderabad franchise for a whopping Rs1.75 billion ($6.2 million), while OZ Developers, a real estate consortium, bought the Sialkot franchise for Rs1.85 billion ($6.55 million).
