The owner of Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is eagerly waiting for the contest between his franchise the Benoni Zalmi and Shah Rukh Khan owned Cape Town Knight Riders in the South African T20 League scheduled to begin later in the year. Zalmi said that the Bollywood Badshah has his roots in Peshawar and people are looking forwards to his team taking on Benoni Zalmi in the inaugural South African T20 League.
“Shah Rukh has roots in Peshawar. People are looking forward to seeing his team take on Benoni Zalmi. After the success of the Pakistan Super League, there is a buzz regarding the Global T20 League,” Javed Afridi was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. He expressed his displeasure over the fact that bilateral ties are not being played between arch-rivals India and Pakistan which is a great exhibition to the sport.
Unless the political tension surrounding the two countries comes to a standstill, the resumption of bilateral ties between the two Asian Giants seems highly unlikely. “Unfortunately, India and Pakistan cricketers won’t be playing against each other in the Global League and it would be left to Pakistan owners versus Indian owners,” he said.
Fawad Rana, the owner of the Durban Qalandars in the South African Global T20 League expressed his desire to buy Team India captain Virat Kohli for his team. The dream won’t be a reality as the Indian players aren’t allowed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in any other global T20 tournaments which go on across the world.
Meanwhile, cricket ties in Pakistan will see a resumption in September when a World XI side will visit Lahore for a 3 match T20I series. The World XI squad consists of some well-known names in the international circuit and will be led by Faf du Plessis. No Indian player will take part in the Independence Cup.