PSL is a glorified money making scheme that hurts Pakistan Cricket

[Crucifier]

Every year we get the same things:

- Flat track hacks that make a couple 50's and push for an international recall. This year it's Sharjeel (We're doomed...). Last year it was Kamran Akmal.

- Over the hill/retired international players. Where's Archer/Starc? Nope. We get the likes of Dale Steyn and Liam Plunkett.

- Too proud to admit Pakistani fans who genuinely believe PSL has better quality cricket than IPL. I know IPL has had a shady past of corruption but you can't deny it's full of the best/relevant cricketers. Let's not be ignorant and pretend every match is fixed.


This low quality circus show does nothing but give opportunities to mediocre players to shine in a small pool with other small fish. Soon as it's time to face a real team, Pakistan are 110/7 in Tests again.

I don't mind players securing the bag but it comes at the cost of false hope for Pakistan Cricket. Name me one emerging players in PSL 2021 that can make it big at the international level.

 

[Giannis]

It doesn't hurt Pakistan, if anything it helps the economy - Pakistan doesn't have any other major commercial sports leagues; I know you're suggesting it hurts the art of cricket in Pakistan but that doesn't hurt Pakistan itself, at the end of the day any business that can make money, create jobs and contribute to the national treasury is good for the country, not bad.

 

[Savak]

Lol, get a grip. You don't see the English comparing the Natwest League to the IPL, neither do you see the Australians comparing the Big Bash to the IPL.

How does having the PSL hurt Pakistani Cricket vs not having the PSL? You want the best players in the PSL then either dish out $1-3 million from your pocket or have a window for it after the IPL or quit whining.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Making money is completely fine. But it should be invested in domestic cricket rather than lining up the pockets of PCB employees.
Put that money back at grass root level, in school cricket and use the revenue to give domestic players good salaries.
So no PSL does not hurt Pakistan Cricket at all.

 

[Crucifier]

I also wanted to mention how often India are pumping out new talent via the IPL. Not only are these new players being given ample chances at international level but they are also performing.

I guess it's easier for them to perform for India because they're already playing with/against the very best names in the business.

 

[Crucifier]

It doesn't hurt Pakistan, if anything it helps the economy - Pakistan doesn't have any other major commercial sports leagues; I know you're suggesting it hurts the art of cricket in Pakistan but that doesn't hurt Pakistan itself, at the end of the day any business that can make money, create jobs and contribute to the national treasury is good for the country, not bad.

My belief is that it's hurting Pakistan Cricket. The economy is a completely different topic. If you compare how many top quality cricketers are coming out of Natwest T20, Big Bash, IPL etc, PSL is slacking far behind.

However, I may be wrong on this but isn't the PSL actually losing money? I think I read an article that it was losing money in the hopes of becoming something much larger in the future.

 

[Giannis]

Won't let me edit original post. I also wanted to mention how often India are pumping out new talent via the IPL. Not only are these new players being given ample chances at international level but they are also performing.

I guess it's easier for them to perform for India because they're already playing with/against the very best names in the business.

Tbf I think that's a false attribution, I believe India has improved their Grade A and first class cricket a lot and that talent then goes to the IPL and the world notices, of course they improve even more by competing with and training with some of the worlds best players at a high intensity, people keep crediting the IPL but I don't think that's the main reason, India has really worked on their domestic cricket circuit.

 

[Crucifier]

Tbf I think that's a false attribution, I believe India has improved their Grade A and first class cricket a lot and that talent then goes to the IPL and the world notices, of course they improve even more by competing with and training with some of the worlds best players at a high intensity, people keep crediting the IPL but I don't think that's the main reason, India has really worked on their domestic cricket circuit.

Fair point. Someone already mentioned that more money should be invested in Pakistan's domestic cricket rather than lining the pockets of PCB officials.

We really need to improve all aspects of Pakistan Cricket to have any hope of producing top quality international players. This notion of "naturally talented/gifted" nonsense has to stop. As you can see right now, the era of gifted Pakistani players is well and truly over.

 

[Savak]

The PSL Franchises filed a case against the PCB claiming the PCB was making a lot of money from the PSL whereas the Franchises were not. The PCB fired back saying hosting the PSL will be pointless for them if they are going to give everything to the Franchises and that the Franchises needed to do a better job of running their franchises and also show patience because the PSL just recently got back to Pakistan. So the PSL in itself isn't losing money, the Franchises are not doing a good job in making money out of it.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

PSL is the reason we are finding so many 145k+ pacers , remember when had pace competition trials in past the top speed were less than 140k always , but when PSL team conduct these trials we are getting bunch of bowlers clocking in high 140ks without any professional cricket training. The kids are showing interest in Pak cricket because of money and exposure. But yea we will not produce a top quality batsmen through this league but definitely going to find plenty of good pacers.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

Our Youth mentality now days is always for looking short cuts and just see what Lahore Qalanders doing , they are giving them short cut to earn big money and fame. It will only going to spark interest in youth and will be better for our cricket in general.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

Do you think Dilbar , Rauf , Daniyal would have made it to FC cricket if not being spotted by Lahore Qalanders? Lots of new kids will be inspired by them.

 

[thecrusade911]

Bowler concedes 20 runs in an over in every other match. Pakistan fans... But but but ... He is bowling 145+

 

[Mamoon]

A great thread by OP but I would argue that PSL is not hurting Pakistan cricket because it is bringing in money.

As far as the quality of players are concerned, the reality is that PSL franchises do not have the money to attract the big name, contemporary players.

They will play in PSL once they are 35 years old and their IPL contracts are running out. PSL is a low budget, cheap imitation of IPL and this is expected.

Moreover, the fact that Pakistan itself is a very poor team with no talent compounds the problem. The vast majority of our local players are embarrassing and clearly lack talent, skill and mental application.

It is a major reason why the quality of cricket in PSL is embarrassing.

As a result, a league like IPL which is overflowing with young talent can survive without world class foreign players to a great extent but PSL cannot.

Nevertheless, ultimately, Pakistan cricket is better off with PSL than without PSL, and that should be enough for our fans.

The problem occurs when our fans pretend that PSL is something which is not, and keep doing the “PSL has the best bowling” dramaybaazi which is a joke really.

All these constant comparisons with IPL, which is a bigger brand than Pakistan cricket itself, serve no purpose whatsoever.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

A great thread by OP but I would argue that PSL is not hurting Pakistan cricket because it is bringing in money.

As far as the quality of players are concerned, the reality is that PSL franchises do not have the money to attract the big name, contemporary players.

They will play in PSL once they are 35 years old and their IPL contracts are running out. PSL is a low budget, cheap imitation of IPL and this is expected.

Moreover, the fact that Pakistan itself is a very poor team with no talent compounds the problem. The vast majority of our local players are embarrassing and clearly lack talent, skill and mental application.

It is a major reason why the quality of cricket in PSL is embarrassing.

As a result, a league like IPL which is overflowing with young talent can survive without world class foreign players to a great extent but PSL cannot.

Nevertheless, ultimately, Pakistan cricket is better off with PSL than without PSL, and that should be enough for our fans.

The problem occurs when our fans pretend that PSL is something which is not, and keep doing the “PSL has the best bowling” dramaybaazi which is a joke really.

All these constant comparisons with IPL, which is a bigger brand than Pakistan cricket itself, serve no purpose whatsoever.

No one asked you to compare PSL with IPL and no one asked you about cricket talent in Pakistan , The question was is PSL helping Pak cricket or not? The answer is yes one way or the other.

 

[gazza619]

PSL does not hurt Pakistan cricket.

The selectors who think that a player who averages 40 in the PSL but only 20 in domestic cricket deserve to be picked for the national team are the ones who hurt Pakistan cricket.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Welcome to my camp. If you are relying on a Pyjama League to give you talent every year than you are going to get disappointed. Even if it finds a talent or two your domestic system should be good enough to make them ready for International Cricket. Bumrah was found by IPL as claimed by IPL fans here but he gives credit to domestic cricket in India for his success. Chances of finding a talent through these leagues only who can continuously serve India/Pakistan for at least 5 years in a row are pretty slim. They will need domestic cricket and 'A' team tours to improve themselves. We have yet to find replacements for Raina, Dhoni and Yuvi in LOI's. And this league has been going on since 2008.

 

[Gullycricket]

OP is saying as if PSL disappeared and we will become world beaters. PSL will not create talent, that will come via domestic cricket. PSL is about exposure to world class coaching, mental conditioning etc. Every league has its own bunch of mediocre cricketers who live off it. Even the world class IPL has such players who do bare minimum to keep getting selected.

 

[UzmanBeast]

A great thread by OP but I would argue that PSL is not hurting Pakistan cricket because it is bringing in money.

As far as the quality of players are concerned, the reality is that PSL franchises do not have the money to attract the big name, contemporary players.

They will play in PSL once they are 35 years old and their IPL contracts are running out. PSL is a low budget, cheap imitation of IPL and this is expected.

Moreover, the fact that Pakistan itself is a very poor team with no talent compounds the problem. The vast majority of our local players are embarrassing and clearly lack talent, skill and mental application.

It is a major reason why the quality of cricket in PSL is embarrassing.

As a result, a league like IPL which is overflowing with young talent can survive without world class foreign players to a great extent but PSL cannot.

Nevertheless, ultimately, Pakistan cricket is better off with PSL than without PSL, and that should be enough for our fans.

The problem occurs when our fans pretend that PSL is something which is not, and keep doing the “PSL has the best bowling” dramaybaazi which is a joke really.

All these constant comparisons with IPL, which is a bigger brand than Pakistan cricket itself, serve no purpose whatsoever.

Agreed, it awaits to be seen what the money generated will actually be used for. A league such as the PSL for the purpose of making money is fine, and if there is some competency in how the money is managed, it could see the league travel further ahead of all other leagues and establish itself as the next-best after IPL. PSL won't become better than IPL anytime soon, but that does not deter the path for progress.

PSL is like a lottery when it comes to new talent, sometimes, luck is in your favor and you find a player who is of high quality, but other times, you get a few mediocre players who just performed well in the league. So far, I have yet to see one extremely talented player feature in the PSL, so it looks like we're still waiting to cash in.

More money won't hurt Pakistan cricket, and if it is utilized properly at the development levels (ie. making more performance centres, investing in technology, drop-in pitches for practicing in foreign conditions, grassroot level, etc.) Attracting big names remains to be seen, so if this PSL season goes well and seems competitive and lucrative, it might attract a few big names who couldn't make it to the IPL. As far as attracting the likes of Warner, Williamson, and others, I don't know about that.

 

[Energy]

The quality is down due to the 'loyalty' of franchises with players. The bhai bhai scene that Pakistanis love is fully implemented even at the national sports level.

The reason why washed up players and Sohail Akhtar et al are playing is because the franchise owners/coaching team have a good rapport with them. And that is what is hurting the league, and will continue to hurt in the future.

 

[wrongun]

No-one in Oz cricket is saying the BBL helps Oz cricket either.

Its mission was to bring in new, casual fans from demographics in Oz that don't usually watch cricket heavily- women, young kids, migrants, non-anglo australians; with the latter 2 categories being about 50% of the population now.

The steady, irreversible decline in attendance, viewers, interest etc shows it hasn't really stuck but it HAS stuffed up our domestic 4 day schedule & test selections.

T20 Leagues don't help cricket as a game. But players get paid & administrators looking at shallow KPI's can make it look good. That's their bread & butter.

But real thought about whether placing a product prime time in your season that makes the most immediate money is a clever thing to do while the game itself struggles beocmes a vicious cycle to the bottom imo.

 

[shaz619]

Lol, get a grip. You don't see the English comparing the Natwest League to the IPL, neither do you see the Australians comparing the Big Bash to the IPL.

How does having the PSL hurt Pakistani Cricket vs not having the PSL? You want the best players in the PSL then either dish out $1-3 million from your pocket or have a window for it after the IPL or quit whining.

I think PSL pay is similar to other leagues apart from the IPL and BBL? team salary cap is about a million in the Hundred as well

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Welcome to my camp. If you are relying on a Pyjama League to give you talent every year than you are going to get disappointed. Even if it finds a talent or two your domestic system should be good enough to make them ready for International Cricket. Bumrah was found by IPL as claimed by IPL fans here but he gives credit to domestic cricket in India for his success. Chances of finding a talent through these leagues only who can continuously serve India/Pakistan for at least 5 years in a row are pretty slim. They will need domestic cricket and 'A' team tours to improve themselves. We have yet to find replacements for Raina, Dhoni and Yuvi in LOI's. And this league has been going on since 2008.

No one has ever said Bumrah was found by IPL. He got into limelight via IPL. Don't twist facts for your perverse satisfaction.
IPL is purely a money making exercise, every Indian fans knows that.
Ashwin also got lime light because of IPL in 2010/2011 season.
Name me a single Test Cricketer who has debuted for India due to his IPL performances.

 

[NishanKonar]

No one has ever said Bumrah was found by IPL. He got into limelight via IPL. Don't twist facts for your perverse satisfaction.
IPL is purely a money making exercise, every Indian fans knows that.
Ashwin also got lime light because of IPL in 2010/2011 season.
Name me a single Test Cricketer who has debuted for India due to his IPL performances.

IPL does provide a great platform in grooming young talents. I can argue Natarajan & Sundar made their test debuts largely bcoz of IPL - although they were lucky to be in Australia as net bowlers & got debut due to injury crisis

Just look at confidence of Shubman Gill, Rishab Pant , Washington Sundar or Shardul Thakur in the recent test series against Australa . Credit to India's domestic system but getting to play against the very best in IPL does play a part. When u get to face bowlers like Cummins / Rabada / Archer / Ferguson in IPL so early in ur career - u dont feel so intimidated when u face such bowlers in test cricket

I still remember the 1999 series when Ranji cricket top scorers like Devang Gandhi , Rishikesh Kanitkar & Vijay Bharadwaj looked like tail enders in front of McGrath & Brett Lee. ! reason being they never faced such pace bowling in FC cricket

 

[hitthestump]

Pakistan cannot compete on the world stage without the funds that PSL brings in.

As long as the money is being reinvested and not simply lining pockets that is.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

No one has ever said Bumrah was found by IPL. He got into limelight via IPL. Don't twist facts for your perverse satisfaction.
IPL is purely a money making exercise, every Indian fans knows that.
Ashwin also got lime light because of IPL in 2010/2011 season.
Name me a single Test Cricketer who has debuted for India due to his IPL performances.

It seems you have gone through millions of posts here and came to conclusion that no one has said it when infact multiple users have said that in the past when debating with me. Just because you haven't read those posts won't mean that they were not posted here. These same fans also give credit to IPL for finding Hardik Pandya and his performances in test cricket. It seems you do not pay attention to posts from other users here.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

IPL does provide a great platform in grooming young talents. I can argue Natarajan & Sundar made their test debuts largely bcoz of IPL - although they were lucky to be in Australia as net bowlers & got debut due to injury crisis

Just look at confidence of Shubman Gill, Rishab Pant , Washington Sundar or Shardul Thakur in the recent test series against Australa . Credit to India's domestic system but getting to play against the very best in IPL does play a part. When u get to face bowlers like Cummins / Rabada / Archer / Ferguson in IPL so early in ur career - u dont feel so intimidated when u face such bowlers in test cricket

I still remember the 1999 series when Ranji cricket top scorers like Devang Gandhi , Rishikesh Kanitkar & Vijay Bharadwaj looked like tail enders in front of McGrath & Brett Lee. ! reason being they never faced such pace bowling in FC cricket

[MENTION=152959]hoshiarpurexpress[/MENTION] See it didn't take long to find one who gives credit to IPL for a player's inclusion in test side. Hats off to those who select test cricketers based on their IPL performances. Will be interesting to see your debate with Nishan.


And [MENTION=147707]NishanKonar[/MENTION] you remember the 1999 series but keep forgetting this same domestic system gave us Yuvi, Sehwag, Zaheer, Raina and Dhoni as well after that. All these players were responsible for India winning T20 WC and ODI WC. None of your Pyjama League Only superstars were/are capable of doing that currently.

 

[the Great Khan]

The PSL's function is to bring in money to pakistan cricket and to popularise pakistan cricket around the world if possible. It also gives the pakistani public some entertainment and a bit of fun. No harm in that.

It is not a talent nursery perse'. We have a decent domestic calanedar now and the PSL is the culmination of that. If you want to see talent and its progress watch our new domestic tournaments. the PSL is all fun and it gives our youngsters a chance to play in a different environment while it gives some of our oldies the opportunity to make some money.

personally for me four day cricket is the big dog..

 

[NishanKonar]

[MENTION=152959]hoshiarpurexpress[/MENTION] See it didn't take long to find one who gives credit to IPL for a player's inclusion in test side. Hats off to those who select test cricketers based on their IPL performances. Will be interesting to see your debate with Nishan.


And [MENTION=147707]NishanKonar[/MENTION] you remember the 1999 series but keep forgetting this same domestic system gave us Yuvi, Sehwag, Zaheer, Raina and Dhoni as well after that. All these players were responsible for India winning T20 WC and ODI WC. None of your Pyjama League Only superstars were/are capable of doing that currently.

Huge difference. Yuvi , Dhoni & Raina were terrific players especially in ODIs but in overseas tests in SENA they were not so great. Neither of these players got a test century in SENA - or any significant innings. Raina got a pair in his last test matches ( Oval 2011 & Sydney 2015 )

Rishabh Pant has achieved more in overseas tests in his 2 years than Raina / Yuvi / Dhoni did in their entire careers. This is not to denigrate Raina / Yuvi / Dhoni but to put things into perspective

Plus earlier India could not even compete against Australia with their full strength side. Today we can beat Australia with a second string team. There lies a huge difference - huge credit to IPL

 

[NishanKonar]

Point is earlier our FC system produced Yuv / Raina / Dhoni but also lots of Kanitkar / Devang Gandhis / Venugopal Raos / Tino Yohanan - great in domestic cricket but looked so out of place in international cricket

Today we see fewer such cases. Last 3-4 years - very few young players got chance & looked out of place in international cricket. Some have been inconsistent & have not delivered as per potential like Sanju Samson or even Prithvi Shaw. But nothing like the Devang Gandhi & Vijay Bharadwaj of yore !

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Huge difference. Yuvi , Dhoni & Raina were terrific players especially in ODIs but in overseas tests in SENA they were not so great. Neither of these players got a test century in SENA - or any significant innings. Raina got a pair in his last test matches ( Oval 2011 & Sydney 2015 )

Rishabh Pant has achieved more in overseas tests in his 2 years than Raina / Yuvi / Dhoni did in their entire careers. This is not to denigrate Raina / Yuvi / Dhoni but to put things into perspective

Plus earlier India could not even compete against Australia with their full strength side. Today we can beat Australia with a second string team. There lies a huge difference - huge credit to IPL

Really? India of early 2000s played against ATG Australian teams at home and away and competed pretty well. We were close to winning that series in 2003/04 and not to forget the Gabba test where Ganguly played one of his best inning in test cricket.

Surely there is something wrong when someone like Pant is doing well in tests but performing poorly in LOI's after getting all his confidence from IPL by playing against World Class bowlers?

 

[NishanKonar]

Really? India of early 2000s played against ATG Australian teams at home and away and competed pretty well. We were close to winning that series in 2003/04 and not to forget the Gabba test where Ganguly played one of his best inning in test cricket.

Surely there is something wrong when someone like Pant is doing well in tests but performing poorly in LOI's after getting all his confidence from IPL by playing against World Class bowlers?

India competed well in 2003-04 bcoz Glen McGrath was not playing. That Australian pace attack was badly exposed in absence of McGrath. I have no doubts that India wud have lost that series if McGrath was not injured - but again Australia wud not have won series in 2004-05 if Tendulkar was not injured & Chennai test did not get washed out

Regarding Rishab Pant - he just needs to get his game sorted for ODIs. In a way Pant reminds me of Sehwag - he averaged 50+ in test & 35 in ODIs although his game was more suited for ODIs. I just hope Pant learns from his mistakes & learn to play more mature game in ODIs just like he does in tests. Look at the Gabba inning s- how well it was paced - he was 50 of 100 balls at 1 point but accelerated in last 1 hour when the required run rate was going up. Just needs to play like that in ODIs

In fact I strongly blv Rishab Pnat should come at 3 / 4 in ODIs regularly - will give him more time at the crease & build a longer innings

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

[MENTION=152959]hoshiarpurexpress[/MENTION] See it didn't take long to find one who gives credit to IPL for a player's inclusion in test side. Hats off to those who select test cricketers based on their IPL performances. Will be interesting to see your debate with Nishan.


And [MENTION=147707]NishanKonar[/MENTION] you remember the 1999 series but keep forgetting this same domestic system gave us Yuvi, Sehwag, Zaheer, Raina and Dhoni as well after that. All these players were responsible for India winning T20 WC and ODI WC. None of your Pyjama League Only superstars were/are capable of doing that currently.

I agree with you on this one, Test Cricket and IPL are completely different.
Natarajan and Sundar are not good examples because their selection was circumstantial and because of the pandemic, replacements could not be flown in. That they made most of the opportunity is a different thing.
Natarajan will not play another test match.. period. Unless all our fast bowlers fall down due to injury.

What the money from IPL has brought is good salaries for domestic cricketers and that should be the aim of these leagues.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

IPL does provide a great platform in grooming young talents. I can argue Natarajan & Sundar made their test debuts largely bcoz of IPL - although they were lucky to be in Australia as net bowlers & got debut due to injury crisis

Just look at confidence of Shubman Gill, Rishab Pant , Washington Sundar or Shardul Thakur in the recent test series against Australa . Credit to India's domestic system but getting to play against the very best in IPL does play a part. When u get to face bowlers like Cummins / Rabada / Archer / Ferguson in IPL so early in ur career - u dont feel so intimidated when u face such bowlers in test cricket

I still remember the 1999 series when Ranji cricket top scorers like Devang Gandhi , Rishikesh Kanitkar & Vijay Bharadwaj looked like tail enders in front of McGrath & Brett Lee. ! reason being they never faced such pace bowling in FC cricket

Dude confidence is one thing, Building skills is another thing.
Shubman and Pant have scored lots of runs in Ranji.. Pant has 2 triples and scored like 700 runs in 4 matches and Gill record everyone knows.
I am a big fan of IPL, but Test Successes are due to investment in players in the domestic scene.
IPL is just a small, but an important part of that overall system.

 

[Titan24]

T20 leagues have been serving two purposes at the forefront, one is to generate money for the boards and second is to lure in the casual fans towards the sport along with tapping the untapped viewership market to generate more interest with regards to the sport in the country which in turn encourages more youngsters to up the sport. Both the things are really important for the sport in any country.

PSL is doing both the things pretty well so it isnt hurting Pakistan cricket rather is serving two important purposes.

Further from the cricketing aspect a big thing any T20 league can provide to young player is to share dressing room and playing alongside some of the top players, or even players who are in their twilight as it gives them much needed confidence alongside understanding of the kind of fitness standards, drills and trainings some other international stars do. This exposure is extremely valuable for any player who is at the initial stage of his career with not just regards to T20 cricket rather approach towards the cricket as a whole. Large number of viewership, crowds and hype creates an extra pressure around players and a young player going through that at initial stage of his career can learn how to handle pressure in general.

Quality of cricket in T20 leagues can vary and from the very best to the worst you are never going to see a standardized quality throughout the league and some of the contests can come down to some couple of newbies playing against each other or couple of okish domestic cricketers having a battle in the middle. Yes some of the contests can be extremely exciting as well which can prove to be huge learning curves in the development of anyone's career but as said in my previous point the biggest thing for the youngsters is the exposure at such a stage in my opinion.

So all in all its definitely more than just a money making scheme.

 

[Square Drive]

Name me one emerging players in PSL 2021 that can make it big at the international level.

Shahnawaz Dahani.

There goes your thread.

 

[moghul]

Over all PSL has been a very positive step for Pakistan cricket. More than anything else, its a very good way of unearthing new talent and putting the youngster in lime light. But its up to PCB how they nurture the talent by giving the emerging players more chance to play in Qea trophy to improve their technique .

Looks like Dhani will be the find of 2021 PSL and he can be now fast tracked to national team in 6 months or so . He has played Qea trophy but not many people knew about him but just a week in PSL has raised his stocks by a great deal.

 

[Savak]

Which T-20 League operates for charity?