Pakistan Super League players to be given security briefing in light of final being slated for Lahore

Cricketers concerned about level of security in Lahore, which is schedule to host final of annual Twenty20 tournament, writes Paul Radley.

Shoaib Malik seen in action for Karachi Kings against Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League at Sharjah last year. The competition will be played in the UAE again this year with the possible exShow more

DUBAI // The organisers of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) will meet team officials on Tuesday morning in an attempt to reassure them over the safety of playing the competition’s final in Lahore next month.

The second season of the PSL begins on Thursday, when Islamabad United begin their title defence against Peshawar Zalmi.

As with last year, Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 competition will be staged in exile, at grounds in Dubai and Sharjah.

For the first time, though, a match has been scheduled for Pakistan, the showpiece at the Qaddafi Stadium on March 5.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hopes staging the final in Lahore will signal the beginning of the end of international cricket’s eight-year absence from its homeland.

Before the PSL launched last season, international players were asked to fill in a questionnaire, signalling whether they would play in Pakistan, or just the UAE. Few ticked the Pakistan box.

Since the announcement that this year’s final will be played there, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations have strongly cautioned players against travelling to Pakistan.

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The PCB remains committed to playing the match there, even though it has paid to reserve the Dubai International Stadium for the same night.

Najam Sethi, the PSL chairman, will personally provide details of the security operation, which he hopes will go some way to encouraging the doubting players to travel.

Sethi said holding the final on home soil will be the main point of difference between the first and second seasons of the PSL.

“A bigger tournament, better opening ceremony, glittering stars, more mega stars, and finally, a final in Lahore, the heart of Pakistan - that is what is going to be different,” Sethi said.

“The anticipation is building up. I’m sure that once we get to the final, by that time we expect a huge response from Pakistanis. The PSL is going to be a stepping stone.”

The PCB had budgeted merely to break even in their first year of staging the PSL in the UAE. However, Sethi said the 2016 debut turned a healthy profit for the board, much of which was shared with each of the five franchises.

It would be far more lucrative if staged in Pakistan, though, given the substantial costs of accommodating the competition in the UAE, as well as a far more significant potential market for ticket sales back at home.

“It took a lot of hard work to put everything in place in Year 1,” said Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain, who is a PSL ambassador. “Plenty of people had doubts as to whether it would take off or not, and thankfully it did, with flying colours.

“The match between Karachi and Lahore attracted more eyeballs than the India v Pakistan quarter-final. You can imagine the reach and the love for PSL [in Pakistan].”

At Monday’s trophy unveiling, Sethi blocked the overseas captains – Brendon McCullum, Darren Sammy and Kumar Sangakkara – from answering questions about whether they would travel for the final, until after Tuesday’s security briefing.

McCullum, the new captain of the Lahore Qalandars, at least suggested that his side will stand a good chance of reaching the final, scheduled for their home city.

“We are very lucky to have been able to assemble a very strong squad, not just of good cricketers but, we believe, good people as well,” McCullum said.

“We are going to try to play some exciting and entertaining cricket, and we are confident we can put up a good show.”

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