Daily Times

Attracting some of the best international cricketers, an auction will encourage each team to make an extra effort to get the best players. Big names in the teams will give cricket lovers an even greater incentive to go to stadiums and see their favourite stars in action. However, Rameez Raja’s other suggestion on how to fill up the near empty stadiums in Dubai and Sharjah by ‘hiring international tour operators to take fans from Pakistan to the UAE’ is sheer and utter nonsense. A PSL on Pakistani soil will prove to be a huge boost in helping revive international cricket in Pakistan, a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Can foreign exchange-strapped Pakistan (US$ ‘spiking’ from Rs 110 to 115 only yesterday) afford such luxury as its cricket-starved citizens would end up spending hard earned foreign exchange on hotels, meals and taxis in cash-rich Dubai for nearly one month long tournament? The UAE stadiums have been less than 10 percent full, even on Thursday nights and Fridays. Would 10,000-15,000 Pakistanis flown in from Pakistan fill even half the capacity of the UAE stadiums? Can Dubai and Sharjah Stadiums financially survive without the PSL funding them from 31 out of 34 PSL matches? The huge rentals for UAE Stadiums should be spent to improving stadiums in Pakistan instead.

Earning a greater revenue will enable the PCB to double or even triple the amount of money paid to foreign players

Earning substantial revenues from the PSL, PCB spends a huge amount of money on travel, boarding and lodging plus other administrative expenses in the UAE for players (local and international), team officials, contingent of PCB officials and staff members etc. Add the expenses of the players, team officials, team owners, their families/friends, sponsor’s officials, staff members, TV engineers, crew, helpers, etc. Then also add the Pakistanis travelling to Dubai for the PSL on their own. PCB’s direct expenses in UAE notwithstanding, what are the direct and indirect expenditures and huge savings in foreign exchange?

The amount that PCB spends hosting the event in the UAE is many times more than what the tournament would cost in Pakistan and would directly and indirectly economically boost local economy. With capacity crowds cheering the players for every match, given the Pakistanis’ love and passion for cricket, one can safely guarantee that stadiums in Pakistan will be a 100 percent full. Just look at enthusiasm of the crowds filling Lahore’s Qaddafi Stadium for the ‘Eliminators’. Earning more revenues than what it does in the UAE will enable PCB to double or even triple the amount of money it offers to the foreign players and it will be an added incentive for them to play in Pakistan. Sports capture the dormant patriotism and evoke it to cement the unity of the nation. For a country scarred by long years of terrorism and starved of sports the collective activity of cheering for one’s teams and favourites will both heal and bind the nation.

Despite all the heroics and ultimate sacrifice of our brave soldiers, what is the perception that the world gets when PSL matches are not held in Pakistan? This graphically suggests that our security establishment is not confident about maintaining peace in Pakistan. By hosting PSL outside Pakistan, are we inadvertently becoming a part of an adverse propaganda against Pakistan’s national security? Do we actually fund a tournament that essentially sends the message that Pakistan is not safe for international sport activities? Oh the irony.

Once PCB makes the PSL lucrative for foreign players, they will come to Pakistan. There is no earthly reason to have even one match of PSL abroad, unless, God forbid, it is lucrative for those who are making money for themselves by keeping it abroad. We must do everything in our power to make sure the next PSL is held in Pakistan.

The writer is a defence and security analyst

Published in Daily Times, March 25^th 2018.