LAHORE: Considering the inclement weather forecast in Lahore for coming Sunday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to hold the all-important final of the eighth HBL Pakistan Super League at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday, instead of Sunday.

As a back-up, the PCB has also kept Sunday and Monday as reserve days for the decider amid prediction for rain.

On Thursday too, overcast conditions prevailed in Lahore with some parts of the Punjab capital receiving rain.

Though the PCB has kept reserve days for the final, according to the Met Office has forecast rain from Saturday to Monday. According to a MeT official, the probability of rain on Saturday was less while heavy rain is more likely on Sunday.

It may be mentioned here that though the PSL-8 is nearing completion with only two matches — Eli­minator 2 and the final — left after Thursday, staging the PSL-8 games in Lahore had been facing problems for one reason or the other.

First a row between the Punjab government and the PCB over the PSL-8 security-related budget put the Lahore and Rawalpindi games in jeopardy, and it was feared that all matches of both the venues would have be shifted to Karachi. The looming crisis was averted when eventually the government and PCB while softening their stance reached an agreement over the matter.

Then as the last leg of PSL in Lahore started on March 12, security issues arose in Lahore due to political instability which became intense amid clashes between police and workers of a political party. As a result, practice sessions of all four PSL teams — Lahore Qalandars, Multan Sultans, Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi — were abruptly cancelled on Tuesday.

However, Wednesday’s qualifier went on smoothly between Multan and Lahore.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2023