Peshawar’s hopes of hosting PSL 6 dashed

The provincial government’s hopes of hosting matches of the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League in Peshawar were dashed on Wednesday after the sport's regulator deemed facilities in the city as unfit.

Initially, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had announced that it will host some matches of the popular cricket tournament in the western city, with the city and the province represented through the culturally named and hugely successful Peshawar Zalmi. However, with the main cricket stadium in the city, Arbab Niaz Stadium had been deemed as unfit to host a match after it failed to meet the standards listed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

A massive project was undertaken by the provincial government to revamp the stadium. However, due to the slow pace of work on the mega project, the government struggled to convince PCB.

As an alternative, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan directed to launch a plan to convert the cricket stadium in Hayatabad into a facility which can host the matches. The government also allocated Rs.500 million for the purpose and work started on a war footing. However, the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) affected the pace of projects.

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The pace and quality of the project were reviewed by a high-powered team from the PCB last month. In light of the committee’s report, the PCB has now decided not to proceed with matches in either venue in Peshawar for the upcoming PSL season.

The board’s decision has also been formally communicated to the provincial government.

When contacted, PCB’s head of media Samiul Hassan said that very little time is left to complete preparations for the next PSL season, and with the stadiums still incomplete, matches cannot be staged in Peshawar.

Confirming that the PCB’s decision has been communicated to Peshawar, he explained that they have to inform the cricket managing bodies of the countries from where international players are coming about the venues and cities where matches can be played. Further, he said that they have to comply with ICC regulations apart from conducting security and other assessments.

Despite repeated attempts, K-P Sports Director General Asfandyar Khattak could not be contacted.