PCB mulling over launching its own Premier League - Zaka Ashraf - Cricket News Update
Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Zaka Ashraf, has revealed that they will soon launch their own Twenty20 Premier League and claimed that the league launched under the banner of PCB would be bigger than the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).
Speaking to a Pakistani website, Ashraf said that Pakistani players would no more look to the BCCI authorities to let them play in the money spinning Indian Premium League, rather the Pakistan Cricket Board will provide them a platform to prove their prowess
in the shortest and fastest format of the game.
“We will talk to major sponsor companies to come forward and select their teams for this grand league of the country and I hope it will be much better than the IPL,” said Ashraf who was appointed as PCB chief in October last year, after Ijaz Butt’s three-year
tenure as chairman of the board reached an end on 8th October 2011.
“It will also attract maximum number of cricket lovers and provide them opportunity to witness their players in action at their own home grounds,” he further added.
The Indian Premier League was launched by the BCCI and a group of Indian investors in 2008 and the idea got big thumbs up from not only cricket fans from around the globe but also from international players. Pakistani players were also signed by the IPL
franchises but for the inaugural edition of the league and since then the board has put a ban on auction of Pakistan players, following a political rift between the governments of both the countries.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashraf-c46397 said that Pakistani players would no more look forward to the IPL franchises as PCB is just to launch its own Premier League.
Ashraf said that he was appointed as the PCB chairman to boost and promote the country cricket as well as revive international cricket in Pakistan and it was his sole aim as well. He opined that he was doing his absolute best to get international cricket
back to the terrorism hit country. He also vowed to provide all the best available facilities to the national players.
Ashraf said that his first target was to bring in the best suitable coach for the national team. He said that a bilateral series with nemesis India was also on his mind and was hopeful his BCCI counterparts would soon respond positively in this regard.
“We are in talks with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 for bilateral series and for this, both the countries have written to their ministries for NOC and now we are seeking reply from Indian ministry,” stated the PCB chief.
No international team has toured http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 Cricket Board has agreed to send its players to Pakistan in April this year and Ashraf reckoned it as the first step
towards the revival of international cricket in Pakistan.
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