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PSL has damaged Pakistan Cricket

gazza619

gazza619

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PSL has damaged Pakistan cricket to such an extent that it does not even hurt to see humiliation after humiliation. When Azam Khan, Shadab Khan & Saim Ayub end up as top performers of the tournament, then that tells you something.

Look, Pakistan was always going to struggle to win against a World Class England in their backyard, but we wanted the team to show a bit of pedigree, thats all.

PSL can be beneficial if the team think tank are not biased and understand the requirements of international cricket. As I said in my other post a few weeks ago, to succeed in any international sport, you dont just need skill and luck. You also need righteousness, determination and honesty, and we score 0/10 in these three key elements.
 
We can proudly say that unfit Azam Khan , lacking in temperament Saim Ayub and fake all rounder Shadab Khan are PSL products, but the irony is that top wicket takers in PSL like Usama Mir are ignored inexplicably
 
PSL is the - Pakistan's got Cricket talent show

Players entertain to impress selectors in hope of an international gig.
 
Kianig89 said:
We can proudly say that unfit Azam Khan , lacking in temperament Saim Ayub and fake all rounder Shadab Khan are PSL products, but the irony is that top wicket takers in PSL like Usama Mir are ignored inexplicably
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Agreed. That is why I said that selectors/team think should understand the demands of international cricket.
 
You can blame the PSL but if you check the top performers in the other domestic T20 tournament (National T20), you'll quickly realise there is no great talent who has been overlooked. Sahibzada Farhan was the best batsman by a distance in the National T20 but looked distinctly average in the PSL.
 
I wouldn’t blame PSL as a whole, I’d blame the franchise owners for not doing enough to find local talent.

Apart from Lahore Qalandars, I can’t see any other franchises searching for young talented spinners, fast bowlers and power hitters.

I’d also blame PCB for not organising enough games for the Pakistan Shaheens.

Imagine a series between a full strength Pakistan Shaheens vs Pakistan in front of a packed crowd. You’ll have 22 of the best available players for the national team fighting for or to keep their spot in the team.
 
My last comment got deleted so I’ve got to be careful what I say - let me try again…

It’s a ‘mela’ everyone goes home happy!
 
PSL is our premier T20 competition, how exactly is it ruining our cricket?

You would rather pick players based on National T20, where the likes of Asad Shafiq were top scorers at one time?

If you are saying T20 as a whole us ruining our cricket, maybe there is merit to your argument. But PSL is actually helping us by exposing these unprofessional bunch of players to foreign players’ training and their habits.

It’s a level playing field. If you believe the likes of Haris should have been selected by bashing poor bowling attacks in the National T20, while he flops in your premier competition with foreign players, then I have to disagree.
 
Usman Chadda said:
PSL is our premier T20 competition, how exactly is it ruining our cricket?

You would rather pick players based on National T20, where the likes of Asad Shafiq were top scorers at one time?

If you are saying T20 as a whole us ruining our cricket, maybe there is merit to your argument. But PSL is actually helping us by exposing these unprofessional bunch of players to foreign players’ training and their habits.

It’s a level playing field. If you believe the likes of Haris should have been selected by bashing poor bowling attacks in the National T20, while he flops in your premier competition with foreign players, then I have to disagree.
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This. T20 leagues may have resulted in PAK players prioritising the format above others but it's hard to say that PSL is ruining Pakistan's T20 I cricket.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
This. T20 leagues may have resulted in PAK players prioritising the format above others but it's hard to say that PSL is ruining Pakistan's T20 I cricket.
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Even if players are prioritizing the T20 format then at very least Pakistan should be able to find good T20 players, but that’s not been the case. The issue is there is a shortage of good players in Pakistan. Top players of Pakistan’s premier tournament are not good enough against the top players of other teams.
 
Pakistan needs to overhaul domestic structure and need to build more state of the art academies so players can improve their quality. Need to hire better coaches at domestic and club levels. Domestic coaches should train players based upon modern day cricket requirements. None of Pakistani modern players including the ones in domestic have golf life swing to hit sixes.
 
Kianig89 said:
We can proudly say that unfit Azam Khan , lacking in temperament Saim Ayub and fake all rounder Shadab Khan are PSL products, but the irony is that top wicket takers in PSL like Usama Mir are ignored inexplicably
Click to expand...
The same Usama Mir who played the WC 23 for Pakistan? We all saw that butchering

Now please don't say that he needs a chance in t20 because he is the godfather of spin bowling just played in the wrong format. He is as mediocre as they come.
 
TBH, historically Pak have done great in Eng, its no Australia! If we had a half decent team not filled with sloths and chachas, we could take them on. Its as much a backyard for us as them given the support that turns out at the big grounds.
 
We can see from the result of Chacha. Gets selected based on psl and in international he is 🥚
 
PSL is not the issue, problem is in our system where no one can reach to this level without any parchi that is the reason why most deserving candidates get neglated and players like saim ayub and azam khan get the lime light
 
In a country like Pakistan where everyone is desperate for a job they would have hundreds of scouts in all corners hunting for talent but we get 5 selectors who browse through PSL stats.

You would think they have academies creating thoroughbreds from age 8 but we get 28 year old construction workers turned pro. What a joke.
 
Babar, Usman, Rizwan, Saim and Saud were the top 5 local run scorers.

We all know about RizBar and Usman showed glimpses of his talent in the last game.

So far only Saim has disappointed from that list.
 
PSL is certainly not the sole cause of Pakistan's demise as a cricketing nation, but it's surely fair to start asking questions about a) the standard of the league and b) how much weighting selectors give to PSL performances.

Iftikhar Ahmed in PSL 2024: Avg 64 SR 193
Iftikhar Ahmed in T20Is 2024: Avg 15 SR 115

Usman Khan in PSL 2024: Avg 107 SR 164
Usman Khan in T20Is 2024: Avg 16 SR 129

Saim Ayub in PSL 2024: Avg 31 SR 157
Saim Ayub in T20Is 2024: Avg 13 SR 131

Azam Khan in PSL 2024: Avg 25 SR 171
Azam Khan in T20Is 2024: Avg 11 SR 152

These PSL Bradmans have been completely exposed at the highest level which shows the massive gulf between our flagship event and international cricket. A drop-off is to be expected, but to this extent ?!

The purpose of PSL was to not only bridge this gap, but prepare our cricketers in handling pressure of playing in front of big crowds and in crunch games. It's clearly not achieved that purpose.

The pitches at this World Cup (and the previous edition in Australia) shows batsmen even in T20 still must possess a sound technical base. Travis Head has a FC average of 40. Glenn Maxwell averages 39. Rahmanullah Gurbaz has only played 13 FC matches but already averages 47.

That goes too for our bowlers. Today's New York pitch also showed the importance of seamers consistently hitting a length. Traditional FC seamers like Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Abbas would've ran riot. Yet we bowled both sides of the wicket and conceded 50 in the PP despite the gloomy skies and favourable conditions.
 
This is the ideal thread for me to share my thoughts.

PSL has been great for Pakistan for many reasons. It was crucial we set this up otherwise we would have been even more way behind other nationals who have their own league. BUT, at the same time, it has been poisonous for Pakistan cricket.

1. The process of “you do well in PSL and we will fast track you to the national team” is an utter disgrace. It’s a huge gamble and has only paid off once or twice. This process means, players cannot be developed properly at domestic level and means players will no longer have prolonged careers due to lack of exposure at domestic level.
2. The process above is a slap on the face of players who do consistently well in domestic level but get no call ups.
3. The quality of PSL is equivalent to league two of football. But international cricket is equivalent to premier league football. Huge difference in quality. Often this deceives us fans as players tend to do well in PSL, but lack BASICS for Pak (Iftikhar, Usman Khan)

PSL is a pensioners league - it’s hardly competitive, everyone seems lovely jubbly. PCB needs to stop using PSL as a blueprint and pathway to Pakistan cricket. I promise you, if funds were spent on Pak cricket infrastructure, grassroots, degree based + cricket scholarships, Pakistan today would have been in a far better position.

PSL took us one step forward but two steps back and PCB are partly to blame for the way they approached and prioritised PSL.
 
Markhor said:
PSL is certainly not the sole cause of Pakistan's demise as a cricketing nation, but it's surely fair to start asking questions about a) the standard of the league and b) how much weighting selectors give to PSL performances.

Iftikhar Ahmed in PSL 2024: Avg 64 SR 193
Iftikhar Ahmed in T20Is 2024: Avg 15 SR 115

Usman Khan in PSL 2024: Avg 107 SR 164
Usman Khan in T20Is 2024: Avg 16 SR 129

Saim Ayub in PSL 2024: Avg 31 SR 157
Saim Ayub in T20Is 2024: Avg 13 SR 131

Azam Khan in PSL 2024: Avg 25 SR 171
Azam Khan in T20Is 2024: Avg 11 SR 152

These PSL Bradmans have been completely exposed at the highest level which shows the massive gulf between our flagship event and international cricket. A drop-off is to be expected, but to this extent ?!

The purpose of PSL was to not only bridge this gap, but prepare our cricketers in handling pressure of playing in front of big crowds and in crunch games. It's clearly not achieved that purpose.

The pitches at this World Cup (and the previous edition in Australia) shows batsmen even in T20 still must possess a sound technical base. Travis Head has a FC average of 40. Glenn Maxwell averages 39. Rahmanullah Gurbaz has only played 13 FC matches but already averages 47.

That goes too for our bowlers. Today's New York pitch also showed the importance of seamers consistently hitting a length. Traditional FC seamers like Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Abbas would've ran riot. Yet we bowled both sides of the wicket and conceded 50 in the PP despite the gloomy skies and favourable conditions.
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Quality post.

Post of the Week, in my opinion. Captured the sentiment of many.
 
I know that the useless PSL is here to stay, can the PCB at least enforce the following points in the next PSL:

1. Over aged players like Malik & Sarfaraz who have no future in international T20s and are taking a youngster spot should be discarded.

2. Franchise should be forced to play players in the same position as they will be playing for Pakistan. If Fakhar is a no.4 then he should play at no.4 and tailenders like Shaheen should not bat in the top 6.

3. Players like Azam Khan who are simply not fit enough should be discarded.
 
We were poor before PSL as well

We are not producing enough quality players at domestic level.

Z level cricket infrastructure, not enough hard ball matches at youth level. Our NCA is pathetic and garbage. So many more issues I can list.
 
It's not just PSL turning our fast bowlers into T20-loving couch potatoes; the whole league cricket scene is basically a fast-food buffet for cricket careers in Pakistan! With bowlers cashing in on mercenary T20 contracts, they're more interested in surviving bowling four overs than enduring the marathon of test matches—because who needs to bowl 30-40 overs when you can just bowl a few and hand in your "I've earned my paycheck" card? Top bowlers are like that fat kid in gym class who fakes a cramp to avoid running laps. As a result of these superstars are ghosting first-class cricket and having more fun in flashy T20 gigs than committing to the longer format in domestics, leading younger talents to think that physical endurance and test cricket is so last century. League cricket has wiped out good ol' fashioned dedication and work ethic within Pakistan cricket!
 
PSL helps our PCB corrupt officals and money hungry players to make money doing nothing.
 
Shafi said:
PSL helps our PCB corrupt officals and money hungry players to make money doing nothing.
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This is a key point. PSL peaked well in it's first 2 or 3 editions but since then has been on a decline and now serves as a financial cushion for all the bhai-bhai groups. If you have connections, are retired, are of the same organisation, are PCB namak halaal - that's the league for you.

Safe to say the previous edition was pure garbage.
 
Could anyone have dared to say that in 2017 and after? I mean, we won the 2017 Champions Trophy with players emerging from PSL franchises.

PSL hasn’t caused any damage, but our selectors have. They set the wrong criteria for selection, picking players directly from PSL and drafting them into ODI and Test sides without giving them a chance to play domestic cricket.

Can someone question Waqar Younis on how he dared to take rookies like Naseem and Musa to the all-important Test series down under against Australia?

This is the result of politics, player power, poor management, and wrong selection decisions.
 
adi_62941 said:
Could anyone have dared to say that in 2017 and after? I mean, we won the 2017 Champions Trophy with players emerging from PSL franchises.

PSL hasn’t caused any damage, but our selectors have. They set the wrong criteria for selection, picking players directly from PSL and drafting them into ODI and Test sides without giving them a chance to play domestic cricket.

Can someone question Waqar Younis on how he dared to take rookies like Naseem and Musa to the all-important Test series down under against Australia?

This is the result of politics, player power, poor management, and wrong selection decisions.
Click to expand...
This is pretty spot on.

PSL isn't the culprit, it's the selectors and management for selecting players based on one or two PSL performances.

They do that because they can't be bothered to follow the domestic scene and select the real quality players.

Bunch of lazy idiots!
 
Barragan said:
This is pretty spot on.

PSL isn't the culprit, it's the selectors and management for selecting players based on one or two PSL performances.

They do that because they can't be bothered to follow the domestic scene and select the real quality players.

Bunch of lazy idiots!
Click to expand...
When you put players into international team just on the basis of PSL and will not make them play domestic then this bound to happen. Look at IPL, they also have certain quota to pick players from IPL but they always goes to their T20I side first. They perform there as well as in their domestic cricket, then only they become eligible for ODI and Tests for India. This is common protocol all around the world. And here we are selecting all our ODI and Tests sides based on T20 leagues and PSL
 
It is not just PSL. PCB also schedules more T20Is than ODIs. For instance in the last 5 years. Pakistan has played 102 T20 internationals only behind India 117 T20 internationals. But if you look at ODIs, they played only like 45 ODIs. 21 other teams played more ODIs during the last 5 years.

Also out of 102 T20Is Babar played 93 of them. Rizwan 89 of them. So even in T20 there is not enough rotation there as well.
 
Problem is not enough teams. Most players are usually international/ex international players. There’s not enough space to groom enough youngsters through PSL. Even if it makes PSL weaker I’d still put in more teams in order to accomplish this.

We do have an issue of older players hogging spots but if they are better than the younger guys right now they should play as it is on merit. Having more teams will allow more youngsters to play alongside them.

PSL is the only high pressure, attended by fans, all Pak national player play, tournament. If it didn’t exist in this day and age it would be very difficult to assess talent.
 
Kianig89 said:
We can proudly say that unfit Azam Khan , lacking in temperament Saim Ayub and fake all rounder Shadab Khan are PSL products, but the irony is that top wicket takers in PSL like Usama Mir are ignored inexplicably
Click to expand...
Usama Mir, wasn't Ignored. He failed in India during the World Cup 2023. His 12 match overall average hasn't been great either, he is new and might improve with time. But he hasn't done his career any favors by failing the chances given so far. At least Abrar made a big splash on his debut.
 
Blaming PSL is an easy cop out.

As if the domestic system is producing world class talents who are ready to dominate international cricket.

The guys who played the BD Test series were picked based on their QEA performances not PSL
 
I wish pcb would appoint me. I'd fix all issues in a heartbeat. No joke, I'm just that good.

PSL would be a world class league followed by pakistan becoming a world class team.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Blaming PSL is an easy cop out.

As if the domestic system is producing world class talents who are ready to dominate international cricket.

The guys who played the BD Test series were picked based on their QEA performances not PSL
Click to expand...
Thank you for pointing that out. It has indeed become an easy excuse, distorting the real picture.

There are a few categories to consider:

1. **Performed in PSL without much domestic experience**: Haris Rauf, Azam Khan, and Usman Khan fall into this group.

2. **Didn’t perform or get chances in PSL but have extensive domestic experience**: Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (though he did well last PSL), Mir Hamza, Abrar Ahmed, and Khurram Shahzad.

3. **Performed in both domestic cricket and PSL**: Saim Ayub, Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Ali, and Shan Masood.

As you can see, most of the Pakistani Test team comes from categories 2 and 3—proven domestic performers with varying levels of experience. I guess the notable exceptions are Naseem, Shaheen and Rauf, who were injected into both PSL and International cricket concurrently without much domestic experience due to “shortage fast bowlers” in the domestic system.

The PSL’s role isn’t to produce talent but to expose it. Similarly, First-Class cricket isn’t meant to create talent but to refine it; talent should come from age-group and club cricket.
 
mominsaigol said:
I wish pcb would appoint me. I'd fix all issues in a heartbeat. No joke, I'm just that good.

PSL would be a world class league followed by pakistan becoming a world class team.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, you can only polish a diamond.

A piece of turd remains turd after polishing it into oblivion.
 
Picking players on the basis of PSL for different formats has damaged Pakistan cricket. PSL is not the culprit here, selectors and the people who hype those players should be held accountable.
 
The biggest PSL's useless player i have ever seen is Shadab Khan. The rest were never carried for years.

Isko palla hai saalon saal with no output.
 
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BouncerGuy said:
Picking players on the basis of PSL for different formats has damaged Pakistan cricket. PSL is not the culprit here, selectors and the people who hype those players should be held accountable.
Click to expand...
PSL only brings to light talent.

It's the selectors that are lazy and don't do a proper job of identifying the best performing players in domestic cricket.

Case in point with Kamran Ghulam constantly being ignored, but the poor guy isn't much of T20 player, so can't get recognised in the PSL.

All the fault of the dumb selectors.
 
PSL Top batsman - Usman khan but he is failed in international cricket.

PSL top allrounder - Shadab khan but he is nothing cricketer in international level

PSL Top bowler - Usama Mir but failed to deliver .
 
Bit too early to say that because PSL have Pakistan brands like Shadab Khan and Azam Khan.
 
need to scrap this Tamasha and go back to the old ways of finding talent and selecting players

PSL players have a very small life span in international cricket
 
Another damaging defeat exposing the shallow framework of PSL.

The league bullies AzamKhan , Khusdil Shah,iftikhar Ahmed , are all exposed and flopped at international level.

Surely some measures should be taken otherwise our cricket is regressing alarmingly
 
emranabbas said:
need to scrap this Tamasha and go back to the old ways of finding talent and selecting players

PSL players have a very small life span in international cricket
Click to expand...
The old way was just as haphazard. Our system is corrupt and chaotic and because of that we are always at the mercy of individual talent and the talent has dried up. Invest in lots of grounds and decent standard tournaments and we will get a better national team.
 
emranabbas said:
need to scrap this Tamasha and go back to the old ways of finding talent and selecting players

PSL players have a very small life span in international cricket
Click to expand...
Pakistan needs to go back to the UAE. Those spin pitches + awkward seam pitches were the reason why our batting improved.

The likes of Azhar Ali were able to play well overseas due to practise in UAE. Similarly YK was always a test great but he improved in his later years cause he kept grinding on a spin galore pitch, the same pitch where even the likes of Joe Root struggle to make ends meet.

The first psl took place in UAE. And over their most of the scores were ranging from 130 to 140 with the exception of QG vs LQ that crossed 200.

All psl picks succeeded in CT 2017 cause they had practise on said pitches.

Secondly most of those guys were fc performers.

Hafeez learned to spin bash at no 4 from his time spent in UAE. Fakhar use to play fc in that era and sarfi even advocated for fakhar to be our rest opener. Fakhar has a 200 in fc and he bashed in psl in uae.

Then azhar Ali improved as an opener in odi because he played psl in uae.

Shadab Khan use to be a much better bowler as well during said era.

It's just the quality of Pakistani pitches are zero, their the same pitches where 800 runs are tonked and boundaries in psl are nowadays made smaller to allow for bashing and six hitting.

Even our past players use to play county cricket 24/7 and would spend most of their time in England.

Pcb needs to suck it up and start hosting games in UAE again. Going back to a hybrid model would be much more beneficial.
 
Bewal Express said:
The old way was just as haphazard. Our system is corrupt and chaotic and because of that we are always at the mercy of individual talent and the talent has dried up. Invest in lots of grounds and decent standard tournaments and we will get a better national team.
Click to expand...
PSL talent should be limited to T20s, while ODI and Test teams should be selected based on performances in First-Class and List A cricket. This should be the starting point.

The major issue is that our players struggle against bounce, swing, and quality spin because of the dead pitches in Pakistan. On top of that, we don’t have enough A tours in SENA countriesthe last one was four years ago.

The reality is, we don’t have enough ready-made talent, so we need to focus on creating and developing it.
 
We should start playing T10 to improve our T20 game ... I can see the logic now
 
emranabbas said:
PSL talent should be limited to T20s, while ODI and Test teams should be selected based on performances in First-Class and List A cricket. This should be the starting point.

The major issue is that our players struggle against bounce, swing, and quality spin because of the dead pitches in Pakistan. On top of that, we don’t have enough A tours in SENA countriesthe last one was four years ago.

The reality is, we don’t have enough ready-made talent, so we need to focus on creating and developing it.
Click to expand...
But who will watch FC to discover the talent? Do you think Aqib will go to games? No chance and therein lies the problem. So what do they do,well they rely on the same scorecards we see on websites.

As far as the wickets go, they have been dead for decades or forever. It will take a massive investment that ain't forth coming. Our trajectory has been downwards since the 1999 WC and the few good moments are blips and not the norm. Unless the PCB becomes a cricketing organisation and not a reward for political loyalty, I don't see any good come. No doubt we will have some moments but the bigger picture is that both BD and Afg have caught up and will overtake us in the next few years.
 
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Bewal Express said:
But who will watch FC to discover the talent? Do you think Aqib will go to games? No chance and therein lies the problem. So what do they do,well they rely on the same scorecards we see on websites.

As far as the wickets go, they have been dead for decades or forever. It will take a massive investment that ain't forth coming. Our trajectory has been downwards since the 1999 WC and the few good moments are blips and not the norm. Unless the PCB becomes a cricketing organisation and not a reward for political loyalty, I don't see any good come. No doubt we will have some moments but the bigger picture is that both BD and Afg have caught up and will overtake us in the next few years.
Click to expand...
We had Ramiz Raja for a long time, an ex-cricketer appointed by the former PM Imran Khan, who was also a cricketer. So, what did we actually achieve from that?
 
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All T20 leagues have damaged their respective nations (including PSL).

T20 has destroyed cricket as we know it.
 
emranabbas said:
We had Ramiz Raja for a long time, an ex-cricketer appointed by the former PM Imran Khan, who was also a cricketer. So, what did we actually achieve from that?
Click to expand...
As you asked. IK appointed a CEO that was qualified in the form of Wasim Khan. A professional that will no doubt become CEO of ECB and atm works for ICC. Who is the CEO atm and why is Naqvi the chairman? What does Naqvi have anything to do with crcket?
As far IKs achievement is concerned- for the 1st time ever there was a focus on FC. 12 teams in 2 divisions, with strength playing strength. Look at the mess of the current system where Moeez Ghani brought a team and became Capt and opened the batting. In IKs system Players were promoted and demoted and that would have forced improvement if the system was allowed to bed down.
 
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