The new season of Pakistan Super League (PSL) is going to start from 26th March. This time, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to organize PSL behind closed doors i.e. there will be no spectators in the stadium. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has said that this decision has been taken after several rounds of meetings with the government and security agencies. Naqvi told the media that due to the war in West Asia, Pakistan is facing energy crisis, due to which it would not be right to invite thousands of people to the stadium every day.
The situation in Pakistan is also bad due to the rapid attacks by Taliban, due to which PSL has been limited to only two cities Karachi and Lahore. Naqvi insisted on organizing PSL at any cost but the current conditions in Pakistan are not safe for the players. For this reason many foreign players have withdrawn their names from this league. Now Bangladesh has also cited security concerns and said that it will allow its players to go to Pakistan only after investigation.
Foreign players like Gudakesh Moti, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Otneil Bartman and Spencer Johnson have refused to come to Pakistan for the PSL. Whereas Blessing Muzarabani and Dasun Shanaka have decided to leave PSL and play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Foreign players are avoiding coming to Pakistan in the current situation.
Bangladesh’s Minister of State for Youth and Sports Aminul Haq has said that if there are any security concerns then Bangladeshi cricketers will also not participate in the PSL. After his statement, the threat to the upcoming season of PSL has deepened, because after this more foreign players may refuse to come to Pakistan.
On sending Bangladeshi players to Pakistan for the PSL, Aminul told Cricbuzz on Sunday (22 March), ‘If there is any security concern then our cricketers will not go at all. First Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will have to tell us about it and after that we will take an official decision based on our observation. If BCB assures us that there is no problem with our cricketers going there, then we have no objection. The board will also have to take into account what the players want, because we do not want to discourage sports.
Aminul said that the BCB should consult the government on all security aspects and only if the board assures that everything is fine, then we will move ahead. He suggested that the BCB should also take a close look at the status of the tournament and update the government.
