LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering a proposal from board chairman Najam Sethi to hold next year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) final in Karachi instead of Lahore.

“A new development has come to the fore according to which the two playoff fixtures in the next Pakistan Super League could be staged in Lahore, while the final could be played in Karachi after making the National Stadium ready before the start of the PSL in February next year,” Sethi said during the prize-giving ceremony at the end of the final of the PCB Inter-school National Cricket Championships at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Tuesday.

“We will consider the proposal in the coming days about the possibility of holding the final in Karachi. I have made a promise to hold PSL matches in Karachi and hopefully in the next edition of the league this promise will be fulfilled,” he added.

Meanwhile, the PCB chairman further said that Sri Lanka sports minister, who was in Pakistan to watch the historical T20 match in Lahore last Sunday, met IPC minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada and both the government had decided to promote the sporting contacts between the two countries.

“And that means next bilateral series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka may be played in Pakistan and we will try to convince them [Sri Lanka board] to send their team,” he said.

Sethi said he would announce the dates of the proposed West Indies tour to Pakistan in November for a three-match T20 International series in the next three to four days.

Sethi said that due to international commitments, the PCB had to change the schedule of the domestic season.

Director PCB cricket operations Haroon Rasheed said that the next National T20 tournament will be held in Faisalabad from Nov 11.

Haroon said as the international matches at home — against World XI, Sri Lanka and the forthcoming fixtures against the West Indies — were not planned when the domestic season was being finalised, therefore, the PCB was forced to change the schedule of some tournaments. But he said it would not be happened from next year.

He said as the resumption of international cricket in Pakistan could pave the way for ‘A’ team tours on reciprocal basis since some of the countries have expressed interest in ‘A’ series but owing to huge expenses of staging the series in the UAE persuaded PCB against inviting teams.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2017