A disappointing conclusion to a great tournament

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Yep a big let down.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

They should have painted the roof of the stadium. Look awful from the overhead shots.

Why is it a 23k stadium? Upgrade this junk.

 

[Cricket lover 27]

They should have painted the roof of the stadium. Look awful from the overhead shots.

Why is it a 23k stadium? Upgrade this junk.

It had 50k capacity before but after it's renovation it reduced

 

[IMMY69]

I don't understand how this was such a massive achievement for Sethi.

He brought a T20 league final to Lahore with a few foreign players. What was the difference between this game and our domestic t20 final other then a few foreigners?

Moving it Lahore distroyed the contest for the spectators, didn't prove anything to anyone and, like I said before, could have been potentially a disaster had something gone wrong.

The condition of the ground and the stands were an embarrassment and the only saving grace was that, despite the free tickets, a large contingent were shouting "Go Nawaz Go!" Amen to that!!

Also, all those coming here and shouting out loud about patriatism and that people should get behind the event!!

You are the most unpatriotic of all!!

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

I don't understand how this was such a massive achievement for Sethi.

He brought a T20 league final to Lahore with a few foreign players. What was the difference between this game and our domestic t20 final other then a few foreigners?

Moving it Lahore distroyed the contest for the spectators, didn't prove anything to anyone and, like I said before, could have been potentially a disaster had something gone wrong.

The condition of the ground and the stands were an embarrassment and the only saving grace was that, despite the free tickets, a large contingent were shouting "Go Nawaz Go!" Amen to that!!

Also, all those coming here and shouting out loud about patriatism and that people should get behind the event!!

You are the most unpatriotic of all!!

You are right, host it in UAE, give all your money to UAE, advertise their country and get paid pittance.

Pakistan bit by bit is starting to prove it can host cricket. We need to host more matches and build up the portfolio.

I will assume you are young and don't understand what needs to be done. This is not about politics, its about getting cricket back to Pakistan so our cricket doesn't die.

 

[Pakpak]

[MENTION=21699]Pakpak[/MENTION] stated that he thought Imran's comments were out of order.

Since you tagged me here; my view is simple. I did not agree with the final in Lahore however I was open to the match in other cities. Saying that, once it was confirmed its in Lahore I did not see a reason for negativity, you saw me openly back it. I did not even criticise the sub-standard pitch/production on view. It kills me to see teams playing in India, Bangladesh again and again, their crowds seeing stars from other nations while we are suffering on the dross pitches in UAE. I love Imran, the day he becomes PM I will probably the happiest man I have been, however I did not agree to him constantly tweeting about the event. Once was enough. Even though lets face it, the entire thing was politicised by PMLN/Sethi but I'd kept quiet about it till after the final. Saying that my loyalty is to Pakistan and its good, if teams are coming here then I am happy regardless of who is responsible for bringing them in. I like Shahid Masood, however even with him I did not agree to this constant bashing of PSL.

I am, what we call entering the middle-aged phase soon, I have seen many many sporting events in my lifetime, live and on TV. But there was not a single time I can remember where I was as excited as I was on Sunday. I could not sleep in excitement and was extremely envious of my family members who sent me videos after. I will be besides excitement the day our country gets cricket back again, even if Zardari is bringing it back. I am delighted we have given two fingers to the terrorists.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Sethi has said in the next PSL matches will be held in Pindi,Karachi and Lahore.

 

[Braveheart]

I still don't understand why this crowd was so dull. They should have been excited for obvious reasons.

Too many Dull 'VIP's' and their families were present that didn't have much interest in the cricket.

 

[Napa]

If you are taking things literally, that is your problem. 'Sethiphobia' is a just a convenient term for the obsession Imran has with everything related to Sethi. If you don't see that, then again, it is your problem.


Please explain what you mean by 'integrity'. Sure, the quality was compromised to an extent because of the absence of Quetta's foreign players, but the positives of hosting the final in Lahore outweighs the negative. My thread is not intended to disparage the decision to host the final in Lahore, it is simply a reflection on the fact that the PCB did not make the necessary arrangements from a cricketing point of view. The poor quality of the pitch, the barren outfield, the low lights, the botched national anthem and the disorderly presentation ceremony had nothing to do with the absence of Quetta's foreign players. PCB had more than enough to time to prepare for the final and they failed to produce a good quality product.

However, a lot of good will come out of hosting the final in Lahore. The poor quality of cricket has left a temporary impression, but the fact that we were able to host a high-profile match without any hiccups is an incremental step towards bringing international cricket back to Pakistan. Players like Sammy, Samuels, Jordan, Malan etc. and commentators/mentors like Dean Jones, Viv Richards etc. will be more willing to return in the future. If you don't see these benefits then again, it is your problem.


Who said that the PCB is successful because they hosted the PSL final? The PCB remains an incompetent and poorly organized board, directly responsible for Pakistan's lack of success. However, even a broken clock is right twice a day. The PCB has made good strides towards bringing international cricket in Pakistan over the last couple of years, and most of it has been at the behest of Sethi. We hosted Zimbabwe in 2015, there have been continuous talks with WI, SL and Bangladesh, Giles Clark also visited recently and now the PSL final. Things are moving in the right direction and that is all we can ask for at this time. We have to take incremental steps towards bringing international cricket in Pakistan. No one is showering praises on the PCB for doing wonders for Pakistan cricket and none is hiding their incompetence. You are simply creating a false narrative to drive home your point.



Imran is good at criticism but generally doesn't have a viable solution, and is quite good at stating the obvious. The security problems are a reality, and if we wait for the day where we will be able to host international cricket without any heavy security, then we can forget about it for years and years. If Imran was the PM and Pakistan would have hosted the final, he would not have any problem with the state-level security. Unfortunately he doesn't really have a larger point; he only has an axe to grind against Sethi and has failed to put national interest above his political interest.

His major problem with hosting the PSL final in Lahore was that it will make Sethi look good and PML-N would be use it as a selling point in their next election campaign. As former cricketing legend, he should have welcomed this idea and supported it because the people in Pakistan want to cricket at home and it brought joy to thousands of people in the country. Imran failed to talk all of that into consideration. You are obviously a PTI supporter so it is useless arguing with you on this matter, because you would be praising him even if he would have supported the decision to host the final in Lahore, because that would have shown how selfless he is and how he gave paramount importance to the interest of the people etc.



Again, you are creating a false narrative to manufacture argument which does not exist in the first place. Who has blown the PSL out of proportion?

Is it good for Pakistan cricket in general? Yes

Is it good for the young players? Yes

Will it help in bringing international cricket back to Pakistan? it should, with the right strategy. PSL final this year, maybe play-offs next year and in a few years, bring the whole tournament home.

Will it make Pakistan a cricketing superpower? No

Does Pakistan cricket have bigger issues that the PSL cannot solve? Yes

That's all. There is nothing more to PSL, and I do not see how it is being blown out of proportion.


This whole terrorism has been defeated etc. etc. is definitely nothing more than a PML-N hyperbole, who are using this to their political advantage. However, people aren't gullible enough to believe in it and it has been sold to us many times already. Terrorism will not be defeated unless we could go without any bomb blasts and other acts of terrorism for at least a few years. Only last month, we had a wave of terror attacks, so what defeat? However, because of this terrorism, we cannot just sit and do nothing. That is surrendering to terrorism, and just because we have not been able to defeat it yet, it does not meant that we should surrender to it altogether.

It is not a coincidence that Lahore was targeted right before the PSL final. It was a clear tactic to sabotage the final, and the fact that we went forward and hosted the final successfully without any problem showed our capability to bring happiness for the people of Pakistan and host an event in spite of the terrorism. The spirit of the nation has been uplifted once again and Lahore lit up after the darkness of the terrorism last month.

Pakistani people have been starved and isolated for a long time now, and the government and the PCB managed to achieve something that a lot of us thought was too risky, so instead of political point-scoring, we should appreciate what they did. Regardless of the way PML-N politicized it, the fact is that it brought joy to our people and that is all that matters. However, don't worry too much. The people haven't forgotten that we are still rampant with terrorists and we still have a lot of problems, it was just 24 hours of joy and we will back to our normal lives soon.


Imran has done a lot for Pakistan both as a cricketer and a philanthropist, for which he will forever remain a national hero. However, as a politician, he is too impulsive and immature, who fails to look at the bigger picture quite often. His intentions are mostly sincere, but he does not have enough control on his mouth and every now and then, he shoots from the hip and his supporters have to clear up the mess and implore people not to take his comments out of context. His comments in the lead up to the final were extremely poor and it is encouraging to see that a lot of PTI supporters on social media have openly stated that his negativity was uncalled for. Even a respected PTI supporter here [MENTION=21699]Pakpak[/MENTION] stated that he thought Imran's comments were out of order.

Good post.

Though the final may have been a disappointment, the overall tournament seems to have been a success. Congratulations to Pakistanis for a successful tournament. A couple of years ago such success seemed unlikely, there has been great progress since then.

 

[Saj]

The harsh reality is that the vast majority of overseas cricketers will not set foot in Pakistan.

 

[o_ahsan99]

The harsh reality is that the vast majority of overseas cricketers will not set foot in Pakistan.

Should we even be considering inviting other teams to tour Pakistan. Lets not forget that during the past 20 days there have been at least 7 or 8 blasts in Pakistan and many people have died. Just ask the relatives of those who died during the blasts if they care about international cricket returning to Pakistan or not. We have bigger things to worry about.

Plus as an international cricketer one cannot perform to his potential if he is scared about his life and surrounded by hundreds of security guards all the time. It is unfair to expect a team to visit Pakistan for a 10 day tour and be confined to their hotels and ground. Players will get home sick and depressed sitting in their hotel rooms. We need to improve the overall security situation before inviting any team to tour Pakistan.

 

[Napa]

The harsh reality is that the vast majority of overseas cricketers will not set foot in Pakistan.

I think if PSL continues for a few years, the revenues it generates will increase. That is what happened with IPL.

More revenues will mean more money to pay players, which will lead to better overseas players joining the league.