The Player Draft for the upcoming Pakistan Super League has been rescheduled from Gwadar due to “logistical challenges” and will now be held in Lahore on January 13, two days after it was originally meant to be held.
Gwadar, a port city in Balochistan, was initially scheduled to host the Player Draft for the tenth edition of the PSL, beginning in April. The event was to be held on January 11, with the province picked as the venue for the Draft to “inspire the next generations to take up cricket as a professional sport.”
The venue selection, however, had been criticised by the franchise owners. Multan Sultans owner Ali Jahangir Tareen claimed that Gwadar was picked without any proper communication with the teams. “One day, we received a message in the PSL WhatsApp group saying that this year, the PSL draft will be in Gwadar. One franchise owner, who was a bit upset, messaged and asked, 'Sorry, just to clarify, is this a discussion or final?'" he added. "The reply came 'Final, brother.'
“We were confused, thinking, 'What does final mean?' Then, we were told, 'A press release is coming in three minutes. We were discussing London and Dubai, and then we received the message: 'Gwadar final, brother.'"
According to Tareen, the overseas players and coaches would have faced complications travelling to the venue that has an airport with limited international flights. Further, Balochistan’s travel policy also conflicts with the guidelines set down by the UK government. “Officially, Balochistan is against the travel policy in the UK, so they won't get travel insurance. But because it was 'final, brother,' it was over," Tareen had said said.
“I sent a message saying, "Brother, all my foreign coaches are messaging me that it's against our travel advice, how will we get travel insurance? The official replied, 'Ok, ok, we will deal with it.' But then nothing was done about it.”
The UK government advises against “all but essential travel to the southern coast of Balochistan, including the port city of Gwadar”, while the US government states: “Do not travel to: Balochistan province and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), due to terrorism.”
Further, foreign nationals also need a No Objection Certificate to visit Balochistan.
Several Pakistan journalists, however, have tweeted that the reason for the rescheduling of the Player Draft was because of “rain predictions” on January 11 in Gwadar. At the time of writing, though, AccuWeather suggests the weather update for Saturday is “pleasant with plenty of sunshine.”
The PSL Draft will now be held at the Huzoori Bagh Fort in Lahore on January 13, with the broadcast beginning at 12.30 pm local time. The tenth edition of the league will begin on April 8 with the final to be played on May 19.
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