The third edition of Pakistan Super League begins in Dubai from today with an opening match between defending champions Pehawar Zalmi and Multan Sultans, new team of the tournament. With inclusion of sixth team in the tournament surely PSL’s third edition will indeed be bigger and better than the previous ones. Addition of Multan Sultans means more matches, more competition and hence more entertainment for the millions of cricket lovers.
In the previous two tournaments only five teams were competing against each other with only one team being knocked off before the playoffs. Now with two teams won’t be part of playoffs, all six sides will know that every match is crucial and less room for making mistakes. With the inclusion of sixth team, more local players will have the chance to share the dressing room with international stars and learn to handle pressure situations in the game.
Looking at team squads it seems teams are balanced with every team has four to five match winning players who can win the games single-handedly. Renowned coaches and captains in all six teams have the potential to dominate the opposition.
In the second edition of PSL, Pakistan Cricket Board took excellent decision to hold the final of tournament in Lahore. It has been announced that this year’s final of PSL would be taking place in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. We have witnessed that after PSL final in Lahore, window of hope was opened to see international teams playing in Pakistan as World XI, team based on international players from different countries, reached Lahore to play three-match T20 series. Later Sri Lankan team also visited Lahore to play one T20 match. It is hoped that after success of final match in Karachi, more international teams could be convinced to tour Pakistan and play in other cities including Karachi.
Particularly, Pakistani players will get more motivation to perform well considering the announcement that two games will be played in Lahore followed by final in Karachi. It would be a sight to watch witnessing two teams contesting to lift the trophy in fully packed National Stadium Karachi. We hope that this year’s PSL would be a huge success and will pave the way for bringing international teams to Pakistan.