The third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will begin in February, but the franchisees have already started to prepare for the tournament. A new team Multan Sultans has been added to the league, and the franchise owners have picked up Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard and Kumar Sangakkara in the pre-draft and the team will be coached by former Australian cricketer Tom Moody.
Cricket in Pakistan resumed last year as the final of the tournament was played in the terror-struck country. The final stages of this year’s edition will be played in Pakistan as well, and the 52-year-old has said that he is ready to travel to the country if his team reaches the latter stages of the tournament.
Moody said:
“Yes, I’ll be joining the team for the games in Pakistan. Hopefully, we will qualify for the finals and get the opportunity to play at both venues – Karachi and Lahore.”
Talking about the combination of the team, he said:
“I think the team that manages to adjust and gets its balance early on in the tournament will obviously find themselves ahead at the end of the tournament.”
When asked if Pakistan will host international cricket on a consistent basis anytime soon he replied by saying:
“I think the trust level of the players to travel to Pakistan is going to improve over time. More and more players are getting comfortable with the idea [of playing in Pakistan] and I think it will only increase over time.”
Cricket fraternity has been trying hard to bring cricket back to the country as Pakistan has always been a powerhouse in the cricketing world. Pakistan hosted Sri Lanka for a T20 match in Lahore in Pakistan earlier this year for the first time since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team which killed six law enforcement officers and wounded some Sri Lankan players. This effort by the cricket fraternity to bring cricket back in Pakistan is finally taking some shape.