Pakistan Super League resumes after suspension

Islamabad: Pakistan’s premier Twenty20 cricket tournament resumes today after the suspension due to the India-Pakistan conflict. There will be a handful of foreign players returning for the remaining eight games.

The Pakistan Super League was suspended on May 9, but last weekend Pakistan Cricket Board announced the resumption of the tournament.

PSL organisers first proposed moving the tournament to Dubai but later decided to postpone it after foreign players were reluctant to participate in the tournament due to security concerns. Around 43 foreign cricketers — competing on six PSL teams — were flown out of Pakistan.

Rawalpindi will host the remaining four league matches between May 17-19 before Lahore hosts the playoffs from May 21, including the final at Gaddafi Stadium on May 25.

Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikander Raza is among some of foreign players who have returned to Pakistan. Raza, who plays for Lahore Qalandars, is available for Lahore’s crucial last league game against Peshawar Zalmi on Sunday before he flies to England for Test duty starting next week.

Raza will not be available for Lahore if the two-time champions qualify for the playoffs due to his Test commitments.

He said that if the PSL resumed, he planned to return to Pakistan, even for just one match.

“I was very clear in my head that I was always going to go back,” Raza told the Associated Press as he trained with his teammates at Islamabad Club ground on Thursday.

“This PSL is not just about winning a trophy, there’s a lot more to it. All the overseas (players) that have come back, whether they’re in Pakistan or India, I think credit must be given to them because cricket unites and the whole purpose of sports all around the world is to unite cultures, countries.”

Lahore will also have Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for their must-win last league game against the Babar Azam-led Peshawar side after Tom Curran and Daryl Mitchel were ruled out due to injuries.

Lahore team director Sameen Rana said it was important that the PSL returns to finish the season.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and the conditions which were happening on the ground was not the best, it’s unfortunate,” Rana said. “But from our perspective … the important thing is that the PSL is resuming, and that’s what matters.”

Defending champions Islamabad United has brought in Alex Hales of England and Rassie van Dussen of South Africa after initially picking both of them in the supplementary draft while Ben Dwarshuis of Australia is flying back to rejoin the team.

Islamabad, the three-time PSL champions, won five games in a row at the start of the season before four successive defeats.

Finn Allen of New Zealand and Rilee Rossouw of South Africa are rejoining first-place Quetta Gladiators, who have 13 points, three points ahead of Karachi and Islamabad.

Karachi are expecting to have their captain David Warner back from Australia in time to lead the team against Peshawar today.