Dubai: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) took off to a colorful start through a opening ceremony filled with music, dance and sparkling fireworks at the Dubai International stadium. The spectators were in for a treat for over an hour before the first ball of the league was bowled in the first match between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators.
Renowned Pakistani artist Ali Zafar and global hip-hop sensation Sean Paul set the stage alight displaying their skills. For Pakistan cricket the start of this league will be a new era as, for the first time, domestic cricketers will get to play alongside the greats of the game. The organisers paraded the five teams filled with a galaxy of stars during the ceremony. For Pakistan cricketers, as well as the board officials, it is a dream come true - as for years they were hoping to stage such a tournament.
Najam Sethi, the chairman of the PSL governing council, who bravely decided to launch this league despite many obstacles, feels that it will be youngsters in Pakistan that will be the huge beneficiaries of this league. “The youngsters are going crazy over this league. Don’t forget that youngsters in Pakistan have not seen real cricket apart from domestic cricket for a long time. A whole generation has grown up without foreign players playing in Pakistan, or they playing alongside them. So for them this will be a new experience and that is why we had one million hits on the PSL web site which has just been put up. This is the amount of interest that is there back home,” said Sethi.
Though the league is being staged in Dubai and Sharjah, the organisers have made sure that all the action here is watched by the millions of cricket lovers in Pakistan. Three television channels are beaming the matches live into Pakistan, with action shown on YouTube too. The organisers entered into an agreement with Google for digital streaming of the matches and hence all the 24 matches can be watched live on YouTube - the biggest online video sharing portal worldwide.
The five team owners – Salman Iqbal (Karachi Kings), Javed Afridi (Peshawar Zalmi), Nadeem Omar (Quetta Gladiators), Fawad Rana (Lahore Qalandars) and Aamer Zaidi (Islamabad United) - have invested hoping that their teams will produce exciting cricket. “This is the first time we will have the private sector coming in. When the private sector comes in professionalism will also come in and cricket will definitely improve with the entry of more money, as commercilisation will raise our cricket standard,” said Sethi.
To make sure that cricket is of the highest standard, each team owner has hired the best of coaches and mentors in the game. They added glitter to the opening ceremony with greats like Viv Richards as mentor of Quetta and Wasim Akram as mentor of Islamabad United present. “I am glad that we have our own T20 league. Pakistanis will own this product proudly and I urge the fans to come to the stadium as they will see some exciting cricket,” remarked Akram.
The PSL will conclude with the final on February 23 and the winning team lifting The Shooting Star - a Swarovski specially-designed glittering trophy.
