Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has blamed its cricket board for postponing PSL 2021. The tournament was postponed after new cases emerged in the tournament. The tournament started on February 20 and only 14 of the 34 scheduled games took place before seven new COVID cases were reported. Along with him, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhter had also blamed the medical staff of the national cricket team for being inadequate in the treatment of the players.
Shahid Afridi has blamed the PCB for not having a proper backup in case of emergencies. Speaking at a function in Lahore on Wednesday, Afridi said that the Pakistan Super League should not have been postponed.
PCB Didn’t Have Plan B For PSL: Shahid Afridi
“The PSL is a very big brand of Pakistan and Pakistan cricket and it is unfortunate that the PCB didn’t appear to have a plan B for this important event. But it appears they didn’t have a plan B when the COVID-19 cases were detected among some players and officials and this is surprising to me. The postponement didn’t send out a good message,” he said.
The owner of one of the PSL franchises has also blamed the board for failing to maintain the bio-bubble created for the event in Karachi.
“I think the PCB is 90 percent responsible for the faults in the bio-secure bubble created for the tournament which eventually led to the postponement of the PSL” Nadeem Omar, owner of Quetta Gladiators said.
Omar has further sid that PCB chief Ehsan Mani has admitted that there was a communication gap between the board and the six PSL franchises, which was one of the reasons behind the postponement of the tournament.
Meanwhile, as per recent reports in Cricbuzz, the tournament will resume in June 2021. The PCB in a statement said about the same further stating that all the remaining games will be played in Karachi.
“June emerged as the most preferred and practical window due to Pakistan men’s national cricket team’s international commitments in March/April and late August/September,” the PCB stated in a release on Thursday (March 11).