LAHORE: Finally the franchise owners of HBL Pakistan Super League stepped back from their demand on Thursday and agreed to Pakistan Cricket Board’s suggested window available in June for holding the remaining 20 matches of the league, which was deferred for an indefinite period on March 4, due to the emergence of seven Covid-19 cases.

The decision was taken during a virtual meeting held between PCB officials and the owners of the six franchises.

The National Stadium, Karachi was also kept as the venue for the remaining PSL-6 matches, keeping in view the relatively suitable weather of the coastal city during June.

The encouraging development has cleared the about the future of PSL after its reputation was badly dented due to the unprofessional way both the PCB and the franchises managed in implementing the SOPs set by the National Command Operation Center (NCOC) during the matches staged in Karachi from Feb 20 to March 3. Seven Covid-19 cases -- of PSL players and support staff members -- surfaced during these two weeks amid reports of bio-secure bubble breaches.

“The PCB and the Franchises, the PSL Governing Council, are aiming to reschedule the remaining 20 HBL Pakistan Super League 6 matches in June 2021 in Karachi. This was unanimously agreed by the six franchise owners and the PCB in a virtual meeting held on Thursday afternoon and after taking into consideration all factors relating to event organisation,” read a PCB press release issued after Thursday’s meeting.

“June emerged as the most preferred and practical window due to Pakistan men’s national cricket team’s international commitments in March-April and late August-September.

“The remaining 20 matches in June are now being planned following the men’s national cricket team’s return from Zimbabwe on May 13 and before their departure for England on June 26.

“The PCB management will now look into the operational and logistical challenges and revert to the franchise owners and stakeholders,” the press release concluded.

It may be mentioned here that in the last meeting held on March 8, the franchises had urged the PCB to hold the remaining matches in March-April (before the start of Ramazan), even at the cost of postponing Pakistan’s scheduled tours to South Africa and Zimbabwe (from March 26 to May 13), emphasising restoring the reputation of the league should be PCB’s top priority.

In a similar demand, the broadcasters were also interested in March-April window for the remaining PSL matches claiming they may face financial problems in June as most of the budget has already been spent.

However, during Thursday’s virtual meeting, which lasted a couple of hours, all stakeholders accepted the June window proposed by the PCB.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2021