‘Pakistan Super League here to stay’
SETHI: IT IS GOING TO BE AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE PAKISTAN PLAYERS
Pakistan Super League Chairman Najm Sethi looked a relieved man at the launch press conference of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Dubai on Sunday. With good reasons as after years of delay and apprehension, he is finally all set to realise his dream this February.
The euphoria surrounding this T20 tournament is tremendous, both back home in Pakistan and among the entire cricketing fraternity but Sethi is well aware that the battle is far from over. The slam bang cricket is already under cloud after the Indian Premier League (IPL) suffered a major jolt with two of their high profile teams forced to go into exile after their match-fixing allegations were proved in the court of law.
Sethi, in an exclusive interview with Gulf News, revealed that stringent anticorruption measures will be in place in PSL
Excerpts:
What are the steps taken in terms of anticorruption ahead of the tournament? We have taken very strong steps. I’m not the right authority to speak about it. Our head of security is a well-experienced retired colonel from the ISI.
Every twirl of the moustache and every gesture by players or officials will be monitored. All the teams are put up in one hotel and we are going to sanitise it. We will be working very closely with the ICC. Every country has been tainted not just Pakistan. Just think of it, Pepsi has pulled out of IPL, who lost $80 million (Dh294 million) contract because of those two teams.
You must be a relieved man, now that everything is in place... Yes, we have won a fight but the war has to be fought on the playing fields of Dubai and Sharjah. There were a lot of hurdles and lot of naysayers. The main problem was we couldn’t organise the event in Pakistan. We failed to convince the foreign players to play in Pakistan. We were prepared to offer them more money. However, at the end of the day we are able to organise it here and Inshallah in the next few years, this event will move back to Pakistan.
What was the biggest that you faced? We missed out in signing up the UAE in time and so the Masters Cricket League signed up. Then, we approached Qatar and floundered there as they couldn’t get the venue on time. We came back and obviously it cost us a bit. Our second big hurdle was getting the foreign players. This time, we have given PCB guarantees. PCB is a credible identity so the franchises would pay us and we pay the foreign players. We
challenge decided even if they don’t pay us we will pay the foreign players. We have taken out insurance policies and given guarantees and that got the foreign players on board.
Another challenge was to raise the money from the franchises and we did extremely well having collected more than our reserve prize. We got $100 million for the next 10 years by the time we add the next three teams in three-four years or five years, this will go up to $200 million.
Do you believe there is still a market for another T20 tournament? Until recently, IPL was shown on Pakistan television. This year, IPL was not broadcast on Pakistan television because they were no broadcasters ready to pay even $50,000. But look the money they have coughed up for the PSL and so I think this is good sign.
With Master Cricket League being played simultaneously, do you think it will hurt your tournament? We hope it wouldn’t have an impact on our tournament. Originally, MCL was scheduled from January 22-February 2 and PSL from February 4-21. However, unknown to us, this has been changed by MCL and Emirates Cricket Board. We think the two markets are different. We are here to stay and I don’t know what will be the response to MCL; after all these are old players.
What sort of a change do you think this tournament can bring about in Pakistan cricket? When our youngsters rub shoulders with the giants — in the dressing rooms and dining rooms, there is going to be a profound impact. It is going to be an educational experience for the Pakistani players and I’m hoping that it will rub off on them because they have never had this experience before PSL.