PCB BoG meeting today to discuss domestic format

KARACHI: The 54th meeting of Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Board of Governors will be held in Lahore on Wednesday (today). It is expected that GB members would discuss how and when the new domestic format would be implemented.

Sources said it would be difficult to implement the new format as only two months are left before the start of the new session. The domestic season usually starts in September.

The PCB will announce the new format after the approval by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is PCB’s patron in chief by virtue of his office and is a World Cup-winning captain. The cricketers fraternity is keenly waiting for the announcement of the format. The board has been directed by the PM to base domestic cricket on regions instead of departments. Director Domestic Haroon Rasheed has designed the new format as per the directives of PCB high officials and the PM.

The sources connected to domestic cricket said that the PCB authorities were likely to use the poor performance of Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup as a pretext for changing the domestic format drastically.

“Due to low standard domestic cricket in Pakistan, our players are making mistakes after mistakes in the World Cup,” said an official. “Thus, it is the right time to address the root cause of the problem and change the old rotten system with the one proposed by the PM.

The departmental and regional officials both have been waiting for the new domestic format announcement. It has been reported previously that there would be only six teams, all representing regions, under the new format.