Shoaib Akhtar advises PCB to hire foreign experts for organising PPL – Cricket News Update
Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has suggested that the Pakistan Cricket Board should hire the services of foreign experts in order to ensure that the proposed Pakistan Premier League is successful, casting doubts on the abilities of the board
officials.
“Seventy year old people can't organise the PPL,” said Akhtar. “The PCB should hire services of foreign consultants instead of old people for hosting a successful event if it really wants to organise the PPL.”
With the PCB being unable to hold home series in Pakistan, following the 2009 terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankan team in Lahore, the board has been forced to host foreign teams for “home” series at neutral venues such as the United Arab Emirates
– a situation which has taken its toll on the board’s budget.
The PCB’s 2010-2011 budget was in red, although the board received a significant financial boost after being paid compensation by the ICC for having been removed as co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup.
The 2011-2012 budget, however, offers a far from promising picture, with a deficit of approximately 70 crore Pakistani rupees – a shortfall which the board aims to overcome via various means, among them the launch of the Pakistan Premier League.
Following the inception of the idea to launch a league similar to the hugely successful Indian Premier League, which has inspired other T20 tournaments such as the Bangladesh Premier League, the Pakistan board viewed presentations on the feasibility of the
project in April this year, by various television broadcasting and sports management companies.
The PPL, which is to serve the dual purpose of generating much-needed revenue and bringing international cricket back to Pakistan, is scheduled to be launched in three phases.
The first phase will be a club-level T20 tournament for domestic teams, where the ICC’s associate member countries will be invited to allow their players to participate as overseas signings. The second phase will be held at regional level, with better-known
foreign players invited to participate. The last stage will function on the model of the IPL, with the concept of franchises.
Responding to Akhtar’s comments, an unnamed board official pointed out that the PCB was already working on hiring an independent commissioner for the proposed league. In addition, pitches had already been made to the PCB by eight companies, among them Geo
TV, Ten Sports, and Nimbus, and an unnamed board official
"We have even got some foreign companies to show interest in the PPL and make presentations,” said the board official, going on to suggest that Akhtar was unaware of how the board was handling the project.