Multan Sultans owner Ali Jahangir Tareen has taken a sly dig at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) while responding to a question about the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League.
The tenth edition of the PSL will be clashing with the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. The two tournaments will be clashing for the very first time. The PSL is usually held in the February-March window. However, the PCB had to change the window for this year because of the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played from February 19.
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As a result, the PSL is set to be played in April and May this year. According to reports, the PCB is now trying to sign some well-known overseas players who went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
The reports state that big names such as David Warner, Mustafizur Rahman, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, and others will be a part of the players draft, scheduled to take place on January 13. The star players had registered their names for the IPL mega auction but failed to secure any bids.
Ali Jahangir Tareen takes a dig at PCB ahead of PSL players’ draft:
While a number of big overseas names would be taking part in the PSL players’ draft this month, many believe that signing those players could backfire. There are apprehensions that the PSL franchises could find themselves in a tough spot if the players signed by them decide to pick IPL in case they are signed up by the IPL franchises as replacement players.
Ali Jahangir Tareen was also asked about the situation. In reply, the Multan Sultans owner could not stop himself from taking a shot at the PCB as he pointed out that the board would not be able to do anything to stop the players from picking IPL over PSL.
He also revealed how the PCB could not even stop a player from leaving the PSL midway through the season in order to attend a wedding.
“I’m sure the PCB officials will say things like, ‘We’ll do this, we’ll do that, we’ll ban them’, but what can they actually do? One of our players had left a match to attend a wedding, and we couldn’t even stop him. So, what can they say to a player who’s going to play for money?” said Tareen on Relukattay’s YouTube channel.
Question, What will happen if a player selected in PSL 10 gets picked as a replacement in IPL?
Ali Tareen, We couldn’t even stop a player when he left the PSL to attend a wedding, so how can we stop a player who’s being paid to play? pic.twitter.com/QHEipKeoDP
— 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞 (@CallMeSheri1) January 7, 2025
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Recently, the PCB also had to accept a hybrid model for the Champions Trophy. While they had the hosting rights for the competition, the BCCI refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan. In the end, the ICC picked UAE as the neutral venue. As a result, India will be playing all of their games in Dubai.