Aamir Sohail: “I would suggest using a stadium in Rawalpindi or Islamabad as the third venue which will bring a new flavour to the tournament”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Former Pakistan captain Aamir Sohail believes that Rawalpindi or Islamabad should host Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches next year.

All eight matches of the Pakistan leg of this year’s PSL were played in Karachi, but Sohail feels that by expanding the tournament to other cities in Pakistan, it will help in ensuring that the entire competition is held in the country in the near future.

Lahore was supposed to host three PSL matches, but they were moved to Karachi due to much of Pakistan’s airspace being closed as a result of the heightened political and military tension between Pakistan and India.

“Given the success of the 2019 edition of the PSL, there is obviously interest in holding PSL 5 in its entirety in Pakistan which is a noble thought in itself,” he wrote in his blog for PakPassion. “We have definitely taken the initial steps towards convincing the world that Pakistan is indeed a safe place for hosting international events.

“We did that by organising a world-class tournament which took place without any untoward incidents happening. We of course recognise the fact that today’s world is a place where one can be at the wrong place at the wrong time and Pakistan is no exception to this rule.

“Now that we have shown the world that we have all the necessary security protocols in place, we need to have more than one venue lined up to hold PSL games, or there is a danger of the tournament losing its novelty value amongst local crowds.

“In this regard, I would suggest using a stadium in Rawalpindi or Islamabad as the third venue which will bring a new flavour to the tournament. Once we can successfully hold games in these three venues, we can start exploring possibilities of adding more cities to hold PSL games.”