The Pakistan Super League (PSL) Chairman, Najam Sethi, who has been also announced unanimously as the successor of current Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan during the board’s annual meeting, has revealed that they are looking forward to hosting as many as eight matches in the third edition of PSL in 2018 in Pakistan
After hosting the successful grand finale of the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on March 5 of this year, Sethi remarked the league will become an instant hit in the foreseeable future, as they are putting a lot of efforts to make it a huge success.
“This time around we are going to hold eight matches in Pakistan,” PSL supremo Najam Sethi was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.
In the latest development, which has been hailed by cricket lovers in Pakistan, Sethi maintained that four games each will be held in Lahore and Karachi, respectively.
“Two double headers will take place in Karachi and two double headers will take place in Lahore,” Sethi revealed his plan.
Sethi, who has been at the helm to bring cricket back to Pakistan, stated he is giving his best for the revival of cricket.
It was Sethi himself, who had earlier chalked out the plan to host the PSL final in Lahore while adding it would be a cornerstone for the return of international cricket in Pakistan.
“All players featuring in the third edition of the PSL will be obliged to play in Pakistan. It will be part of their contract that they will be playing here,” Sethi maintained.
The second edition of PSL became an instant hit after it surpassed the expectations from the former players and fans respectively before foreign recruits of Quetta Gladiators decided not to visit Pakistan owing to security concerns.
Gladiators’ side was led by Pakistan limited-overs skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and they lost the final against Darren Sammy-led Peshawar Zalmi by 58 runs after recruiting new foreign play at the last minute.
According to Sethi, there would be added incentives provided to the overseas players for playing matches in Pakistan which could further go up to 100 percent if the recruits are celebrated players.
“So if a player was getting let’s say $10,000 for that match, then he will be getting $15,000. It is just a way to sweeten the deal for them,” Sethi added.
Sethi further added the deal won’t be applicable on the domestic players owing to limitations in the budget.
Sethi also revealed the sixth franchise’s inclusion is on cards and they were around 30 enterprises interested to make a deal for the franchise.
“We had a total of six eligible bidders for the five teams when we began two years ago. It is a measure of how far the league has come that this time around we have 30 bidders for one team,” Sethi concluded.
After Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by gunmen in 2009, Pakistan faced Zimbabwe, who toured the country in 2015, under a presidential-level security for three One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals.