Sports
Ex-Pakistan pacer Akhtar keen on buying PSL franchise
Lahore: Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar wants to own an outfit in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), a franchise-based T20 tournament scheduled to kick-start from February next year.
According to media reports in Pakistan, Akhtar has already met PSL head Najam Sethi and discussed the possibilities.
“Everyone is excited about PSL and so am I,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.com on Monday.
“It’s like a gift to the nation; it’s not (just) the brand of PCB, it’s the brand of Pakistan. I am interested in buying a team in the league and want to serve Pakistan cricket this way by promoting cricketers and making more Shoaib Akhtars who can bowl at 100 (mph).”
“My business partner and I are testing the waters; assessing whatever is put on table and how it suits us,” he said.
The league will have franchise-based teams from the provincial capitals – Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad – with prize money of $1 million.
Reportedly, the matches will be played at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium, Doha, Qatar.
The tournament, featuring 24 matches, is scheduled to run from February 4 to 24, a month before the World T20 in India.
Top cricketers including the likes of Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Shakib Al Hasan, Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo are expected to feature in the tournament.
The PCB will be selling the players via a draft and will in all probability hold an auction for the teams.
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.
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