LAHORE-The Pakistan Super League’s third edition currently underway in the Pakistan’s home ground of exile days the United Arab Emirates. The PSL is a showpiece event of the Pakistan cricket Board and no doubt the board has reaped many benefits in terms of talent and earning respect and achieved many milestones including bringing the international cricket back to Pakistan’s grounds. It is also the most coveted achievement on the resume of otherwise non-cricketing cricket boss Najam Sethi, who never remained shy of trumpeting the success of the PSL all the time and no doubt he deserved to do so. But it seems both the PCB and the PSL administration are struggling to sustain the brand’s image that had even not shaken by the last year’s notorious fixing scandal.
This year with the addition of a sixth team that the most expensive one so far as well, the PSL has expanded its brand and more teams may be added to the PSL with the passage of the time. But curiously something has gone wrong and the fan base of the event seems to be squeezed instead of increasing. It seems with the promotion of Sethi from the PSL chairman to PCB chief, the event’s organisation has experienced a sudden downfall. The impact was so huge that Sethi had to give a justification of a partly filled stadium on the eve of the glamourous ceremony during his speech.
On the other hand, the competition itself remained quite rigorous and the fans and players had experienced the thrill of the event. The glamour-filled opening ceremony received the usual quota of plaudits and thumbs-downs from its many critics, but the general consensus was that the tournament has set new standards in Pakistan sports history for adopting modern techniques to make it a memorable one. And the most importantly the tournament did not get the sort of coverage it received in the first few days of the 2017 edition where the headlines spoke of corruption allegations instead of the quality of play. Thankfully, so far due to the efforts of the PCB in enforcing strict security guidelines, the talk about the PSL is only about some very good on-field performances and some very odd reception of the event by the Pakistan cricket fans in the UAE so far. Moreover, the PCB and PSL media departments have totally failed to do justice with their jobs as the data, news items and more importantly pictures of the event remained elusive. That is certainly hampering the image of the brand itself as there are many few who will go an extra mile and take pain to arrange this data and cover the event properly.
Let’s have look on highs and lows of the first part of the event in which eight matches had been decided in the span of six days.
Where are the fans?
There is nothing new in the deserted look of the Dubai International Cricket Stadium during the cricket games. The only exception is that it is in a Twenty20 game and during an event that has been supposed to woo the cricketing fans as such leagues are all about glamour and entertainment and the success of any league is also directly proportional to its fan base. In previous two editions if the stadiums had not been fully filled during the group stage matches then too they had not given this deserted look that has started to hurt the reputation and brand name of the league. Twitter is fully abuzz and gleeful Indians are leaving no stone unturned to make the mockery of the PSL in a pompous manner. Even a colleague commented from Dubai during a match that the media room is more crowded than the stadium. The PCB is responsible for this embarrassing situation as they failed to create the hype to attract the fans and is yet to take any measure to address the situation. The unwise hike in the ticket prices is also a major reason behind this situation. It may be hoped considering the easy approach of stadium for fans in Sharjah, where the Pakistan community has a major presence, this trend may be changed for next few games. But if it doesn’t then it would really be an alarming situation for the survival of the event.
Qalandars or Saeins
Lahore Qalandars didn’t disappoint the PSL fans by proving the biggest disappointment for third season on trot. Instead of Qalandars (saints) they are more like Saeins (the persons with below par IQ level) on the field. For a side that finished bottom of the table the first two years, the only way should've been up. But the Qalandars appear to have regressed. Forget sixth, they might finish seventh in the six-team PSL if they don't improve immediately. The Qalandars players and team management both look totally clueless, bewildered and totally alien to the game. There management has failed to develop a team combination and have come in every game with wholesale changes. It is quite unlike of a team who is quite strong on the paper and as per their skipper Brendon McCullum before the event that it is one of the best sides in the whole world and have the services of big names at their coaching rooster. Qlandars spent all the year in promoting their brand with number of activities but they remained unsuccessful on the field. The must realize that cricket is not all about glamour and drama and need more serious, practical and professional approach to excel on the field.
On the other hand, Multan sultans are a pleasant addition to the event and they have entered into the fray with a bang. Shoaib Malik-led team lacks some firepower in batting and have long tail but yet has ability to go all the way in the event. Shaid Afridi seems to prove a lucky charm for another PSL strugglers Karachi Kings and despite their shortcomings as a batting unit, they have remained unbeaten so far and very likely to play the PSL final in front of their home crowd in Karachi. Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United are still struggling to develop the rhythm and combination. This next stop in Sharjah is really crucial for all these teams to develop a winning unit to challenge Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans supremacy.
Old guns roar
The PSL has got a reputation to unearth new talent for national side and Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has stated that aim for success of the PSL is the discovery of at least two new names who will be part of the Pakistan squad as they look ahead to the ICC World Cup in 2019. But this time it looks that the PSL brand may also lose this unique distinction as so far there is nothing new and young when it comes to top performers. Instead, the old guns are stealing the limelight so far and five out of six man of the match award winners are 35plus. Kumar Sangakkara, Shahid Afridi and Imran Tahir are continuously raising the bar for the youngsters.
Exceptional catches
The most delightful moments of the tournament so far are the performance of the fielder so unlikely for Pakistan cricket. This season has already produced some of the best catches the cricket world will ever see. Apart from the aesthetic wonder of the fielding aerobics seen so far, the math behind these catches is even more incredible: The catch success rate this season (so far) is 90% – the highest in any T20 league in the last two years. That’s not all: according to cricket analytics website CricViz, the catches have often been difficult ones, giving this PSL the highest CricViz fielding ability ranking, ahead of the Big Bash League and Indian Premier League.
It all started with Junaid Khan catching a low one. Then came Afridi's boundary magic show, Ibtisam Sheikh took a running stunner, Hafeez made the dive of his life, Joe Denly brought back memories of Jonty Rhodes, pulling a sensational catch out of thin air and Shaheen’s tag team action. These all have added to the competitiveness and beauty of the event PSL.