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Asian broadcast giant Nimbus has expressed willingness in organising the Pakistan Premier League (PPL), a well-informed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) source said.
According to PTI, a representative for Nimbus sports met with the PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf and other officials and delivered a presentation in this regard.
“Basically Nimbus is interested in just organising the PPL for a fee but has not shown interest in procuring rights for the event,” the source said.
“But the fact that an Indian company has shown interest in the PPL has come as a encouraging sign for the PCB.”
PPL has generated quite a bit of interest amongst the Pakistan business community as well but to bring it on par with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) a big Indian stake will be required, according to the source cited.
“At the presentations most of those people who gave presentations made it clear that finances needed to be generated from the Indian and other markets to sustain such a major league including the franchises,” the source added.
“The PCB at present is looking at a sale out price of around 4 to 4.5 million dollars for a franchise.”
The Pakistani board has been very keen on getting the PPL off the mark, keeping in mind that the return of cricket in the country seems unlikely anytime soon.
But after Bangladesh’s visit to Pakistan was halted by the Bangladesh High Court on security grounds, it remains to be seen how the board will rope in foreign players, if and when the financial and logistical aspects of the league are finalized.
