UAE set to host inaugural PSL edition

KARACHI: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) saga has taken another twist as the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 edition will now set to take place in the UAE instead of Qatar.
According to well-placed sources, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is all set to sign a deal with authorities in the UAE to make sure that the league is launched over there next February.
The latest development has left cricket authorities in Qatar fuming as they were counting on the PSL to give the sport a boost there.
The Qatar Cricket Association was expecting a top PCB official to visit Doha next month to sign a deal over the PSL. But now they’ve been told that the PSL will take place in the UAE.
‘The News’ tried to contact QCA officials for comments but they were unavailable.
Meanwhile, sources told ‘The News’ that PCB’s decision to move the league to Doha was a ploy as Qatar and UAE are bitter rivals.
“It was a smart move because the UAE authorities went out of the way to accommodate PSL so that the PCB doesn’t take the league to Qatar,” a source said.
Agencies add: PCB officials, according to informed sources, had visited UAE two days ago and held discussions with UAE cricket officials to host the event here in a U-turn from their earlier decision of staging this league in Qatar.
UAE cricket officials could not offer their grounds for this league as the dates of the PSL were clashing with Masters Champions League (MCL), a tournament for retired cricketers, who had signed up all the three international grounds here. However, it is understood that through a few change of dates in the schedule both MCL and PSL will be held here during the month.
The MCL is to be held between February 4 to 20 and PSL dates will be known during the official launch of the event in Lahore on Sunday (today). Five teams will participate in PSL.
Players such as West Indies’s Chris Gayle, Dareen Sammy , Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Samuel Badree along with Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis have been signed up to play for PSL. New Zealand’s Grant Elliott, James Franklin, Australia’s Brad Hodge, South Africa’s Richard Levi and Roben Peterson, England’s Tim Bresnan and Michael Carberryare are the other cricketers who have consented to play in the league. PCB is hoping that at least 25 top overseas players will play in the league.
According to a source the reason behind Pakistan Super League officials returning to request UAE is mainly due to fear that the response for the event could be lukewarm in Qatar. The Qatar ground which was approached to host the league had a capacity of just 13,000 and also the ground was not even owned by Qatar Cricket Association. The PSL organisers also realized that to host 24 matches in one venue would have been very difficult. It is also understood that some of the sponsors for the PSL expressed their keenness to see the league held in UAE which will have larger turn out and bigger exposure.
Pakistan has been hosting their international matches in UAE since 2009 and hence has a close relationship with UAE cricket officials. In fact, the Pakistan-England series is scheduled to be held from next month in UAE three grounds.