PCB pushing for PSL final in Lahore

Najam Sethi says Board trying to finalise series against Ireland in Pakistan

LONDON: International cricket stars could return to Pakistani soil next March, almost eight years after the 2009 terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore.

Najam Sethi, the man heading the Pakistan Super League (PSL), said here on Thursday that plans are being made to stage the final of the T20 league’s second editions in Lahore in the first week of March.

“We are making efforts to have the PSL final next year in Lahore,” Sethi told a small group of Pakistani reporters on the sidelines of the fourth and final Test between Pakistan and England here at The Oval.

Sethi sounded confident about the possibility of the PSF final taking place in Lahore.

“We will give the foreign player added incentive,” he said. “Let’s hope things go well.”

Sethi said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also in talks with cricket authorities in Abu Dhabi and if a deal is struck then the second edition of PSL will host a few matches in the UAE capita as well.

The inaugural edition of the PSL took place in Dubai and Sharjah. If talks with Abu Dhabi cricket officials go well then the PSL could even be a four-venue event with matches taking place in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and the final in Lahore.

Sethi will be travelling to Ireland next week to watch Pakistan’s back-to-back One-day Internationals in Dublin but more importantly he will hold talks with Irish cricket officials regarding the country’s possible tour of Pakistan. “We are trying to convince them to tour Pakistan,” he said.