The Pakistan Super League (PSL 2023) season eight matches will be held in Lahore and Rawalpindi as per schedule, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi tweeted on Sunday, February 26, 2023. This came after the interim Punjab government had initially demanded PKR500 million from PCB to conduct the matches in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
The PCB had previously paid PKR50 million to the Punjab government for expenses on food. But the provincial government of Pakistan was demanding PKR450 million more as expenses for lighting and security purposes. In order to save these expenses, the board was considering shifting the Punjab leg of PSL 2023 to Karachi.
During the meeting between the aforementioned parties on Friday as well, PCB flatly refused to pay the bills of PKR450 million.
CM Punjab Has Been Kind Enough To Agree To Share Cost Of Lighting Routes Of PSL 2023 Matches- Najam Sethi
Minister of Health from the interim government, Dr. Javed Akram, confirmed to Express-News on Saturday that the PSL matches will not be shifted from Lahore and Rawalpindi to Karachi.
This is because the PCB and the government officials met on Saturday evening to find a solution and it decided to bear fifty percent of the bill payment, which is PKR 250 million. While they asked PCB to bear the remaining PKR 250 million.
However, PCB was still not ready to pay any amount for security, lights, and other expenses handed over by the government.
However, the matter was seemingly settled as Najam Sethi tweeted: ‘CM Punjab Mohsin Naqvi Saheb has been kind enough to agree to share cost of lighting routes during PSL matches in Lahore. HBl PSL8 matches in Lahore and Pindi shall continue as scheduled.’
Good news: CM Punjab Mohsin Naqvi Saheb has been kind enough to agree to share cost of lighting routes during PSL matches in Lahore. HBl PSL8 matches in Lahore and Pindi shall continue as scheduled.
— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) February 26, 2023
Najam Sethi also reached out to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who assured him full support in holding matches in Punjab. Matches in Lahore are scheduled to start from February 26, while Rawalpindi will host the PSL matches from March 1.