PSL's return might clash with IPL

Pakistan have been forced to indefinitely postpone their premier franchise T20 tournament, the Pakistan Super League, two years in a row. With as many as seven players contracting Covid-19 since 27 February, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faced a row of criticism for the mismanagement of bio-bubble.

ESPNCricinfo reported on Saturday, March 6, that given the packed calendar and ICC’s headliner T20 tournament this year, PCB are looking to complete PSL by the end of May, the only window that might be available to them.

The last few days have been intense at the PSL with local media attacking the board over the relaxation in bio-security standards. Even former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq asked as to how people are freely entering and leaving the bubble as they please.

PCB CEO Wasim Khan stated that the board at the moment is making sure that the players can exit the tournament safely, but they want to continue and finish the PSL, something the managed to do last year.

"It's firmly our belief that we will continue to aim to do that and find a window at a later date. We had to deal with a minor breach at the beginning and we've done everything we possibly could. But with any assumptions for a bio-secure bubble, it takes partnerships, it takes discipline, it takes self policing. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that effectively enough, and that is why we find ourselves in this situation." Khan told Cricinfo.


After two players and a support staff returned positive post the first round of testing, PCB sat with the owners of the franchise to discuss if they would like to carry on with the league. Safe to say they lost the confidence of the players and the owners in the next couple of days with the likes of Dan Christian flying out of the country.

Reflecting on the same, Khan stated that they would need to earn the trust back and learn from their mistakes.

"If you really want to carve out a window, you can. But we have got a lot of cricket happening. You'll have to think of player welfare, too. There are windows we'll explore with the franchises to make this work. Trust will need to be built, there needs to be better partnerships to ensure everyone plays their part in policing this environment." Khan added.

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Usman Khwaja supports Steve Smith for Australia's captaincy

Out of favour Australia batsman Usman Khwaja has supported former skipper Steve Smith to take the charge of the national team once again. Khwaja, who is leading the Queensland side in the second round of the Sheffield Shield, said that Smith has already paid for the mistakes he committed being the leader of the team, and hence if he wants to lead the side again, the opportunity must be given to him. “If Steve Smith wants to captain Australia, I think he should captain Australia. He’s our number one batsman, he’s done it before, he’s paid for his mistakes, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in line for the captaincy if wants to do it, Khwaja said to reporters in Brisbane. Khwaja is the latest Australian cricketer to throw his weight behind Smith’s claim on the captaincy of the Australian team. Earlier late last year, former Australian batsman Mark Waugh, who was a member of the selection committee in the recent past, had said that Smith deserves redemption and that he should get the captaincy back. “I would have made Steve Smith captain. He is one of the best players in the team, so he is always going to be picked in the team,” Waugh had said on Fox Sports’ Heavy Roller Podcast. “Plus he has captained Australia for a number of years. He’s got a great cricket brain and I think he is a leader, so why not?” I know a lot of people say why should he captain again? But hang on the crime has been paid for as minor as I thought it was. He’s paid his penance there, so he gets back to captain. I think he is a pretty good captain.” On the other hand, spin legend Shane Warne has always rejected the idea of reinstating Smith as the captain of the Australian team. Although he has forgiven Smith for the act in South Africa in 2018 he still believes that Smith’s phase as captain has gone by and that the right-hander should focus on amassing more and more runs with the bat. “I wouldn’t (make him captain), I think Steve Smith has had his time. I would go with someone else as captain. Steve Smith we want to bat and bat. I think we just let him bat and play. His time has been. It has got nothing to do with the issues in South Africa for me. I just think it is time for someone else,” Warne said. There was a debate around Tim Paine’s position as the captain of the team after the series loss from India at home, but the selectors have backed Paine for the near future. However, the next series for Australia is far away at the end of the year and if Australia fail to retain the urn in their own backyard, Paine's position as captain will become untenable.

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IPL schedule likely to be out next week; BCCI assures support from Maharashtra govt

Senior officials of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday, March 3, to figure out a way forward for hosting the cash-rich league in Mumbai. Cricbuzz reported that Pawar, an influential figure in Maharashtra politics, assured BCCI acting CEO Hemang Amin and IPL chairman Brijesh Patel of all possible support from the Maharashtra government. With surging cases of the novel coronavirus, BCCI has been apprehensive of holding the IPL in Mumbai, a city that has been averaging 15,000 new Covid-19 cases every day. With just a little over a month left for the IPL to begin, BCCI have neither announced the dates nor the venue for the cash-rich tournament. Earlier, reports had suggested that BCCI are looking to host the tournament in six centres - Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai and if possible, Mumbai. Cricbuzz further reported that the associations of Punjab, Rajasthan and Hyderabad have been trying to squeeze into the list of venues. Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh tweeted on 2 March that he was shocked at Mohali’s exclusion as an IPL venue and further stated that all necessary safety arrangements will be made if Mohali is allowed to hold matches. The BCCI is waiting for the IPL Governing Council to approve the IPL schedule. Reports have suggested that it will be held in the next couple of days. With elections being held in the months of March and April the council will have their task cut out in the next few days.