Karachi: Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Arif Ali Khan Abbasi has indicated few loopholes in the process and launch of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
He said the absence of associations from the process had killed the spirit of nationalism.
“Associations should have been taken aboard in the players’ selection process,” he told a private television channel.
“It will never be a national tournament unless associations are involved. Look at the multinational T20 leagues around the world, there is no-one selecting their teams except the associations,” he said.
Arif also cast doubts over the drafting process, saying that bidding would have been a lot better option.
“I don’t understand the mysterious selection criteria. There are over 35-year-old in the emerging category. How can they emerge now? Also there should have been an open bidding for players, it would have evoked a lot of interest and would have been a huge marketing ploy as well,” he commented.
The former chief executive of the board regarding teams’ collective price said, “Much more could have been earned. $93 million are nothing, it should have been much much more. It was probably not handled by professionals.”
According to Arif, the publicity of the event was below par.
“There is little time left in the event and I don’t see any hype. The people at the helm must pick up pace now,” he concluded.