The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and PSL franchise owner’s prime focus is to resume the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in a secure environment as soon as possible, said Atif Rana, CEO of Lahore Qalandars in an exclusive interview with The Correspondent.
“Bygones are bygones. Whoever was responsible, whether it was the franchises, players or the administration, it is history. We need to look ahead now and resume it as soon as possible. We had a very good meeting with Chairman PCB Ehsan Mani and our objective is to make PSL the best league in the world.
“Hiccups do come and unfortunately biosecure bubble was breached but we are determined and planning to resume it as soon as possible,” he further added.
Sharing his viewpoint on why a foreign company wasn’t hired from the start he made it clear that people organising the event should answer these questions.
Rana said, “This question should be asked from the management who was conducting the tournament. But having said that what is gone is gone and we have to look ahead now and see how can we possibly resume the tournament and conduct it in an efficient way.”
On the financial repercussions, Atif Rana is of the view that these discussions will be done later, he said, “It is too early to comment on these matters.” All stakeholders are keen to get the PSL back and this is what that matters at the moment.
“Right now our sole focus is on how to resume PSL and we will have time to discuss these issues once the league is over.” he added.
Regarding a question about PCB official testing positive before the start of the tournament, Rana said, “It is not in my knowledge that a person tested positive before the start of PSL. However, we were told yesterday that a PCB official tested positive and PCB headquarter was closed. The thing is we are in a pandemic and facing an unseen enemy that can attack from anywhere and anytime. You can’t recognise it and it can happen to anybody.”
Answering about if there is any hard feeling with Javed Afridi and did he complain about his comments, Atif categorically denied it and said,
“No, not at all, why would Javed Bhai complain. All of us have our own viewpoint. After the postponement, we all were dejected and emotional but it is past now and I don’t think we should take it that seriously.”
In the end, Atif assured Lahore Qalandars and cricket fans in Pakistan that we will definitely resume PSL, “For fans, I would like to say keep praying for Pakistan and Pakistan Super League. Health of all individuals is our prime priority and we are hopeful that we will devise a plan by which we can organise it effectively and efficiently. And definitely all franchises will come to ground and provide entertainment to fans.”
