The remainder of the Pakistan Super League is scheduled to resume from June 1 but highly likely that the top foreign cricketers could miss the tournament.
The PSL 2021 had commenced in February, but the PCB suspended the tournament in early March to the breach in bio-bubble and a surge in Covid-19 cases among the players and officials.
The PCB have planned to restart the sixth edition of PSL between June 1 to June 20 at the National Stadium in Karachi. The players are required to assemble at their team hotels on May 22 as they will need to undergo a mandatory seven-day quarantine period. Players will be allowed a three-day training session after the quarantine period.
However, the PCB and the franchises are concerned about the availability of their overseas recruits. Many overseas players could give PSL a miss due to their other commitments or mental fatigue. Few players who are part of the IPL might miss PSL if their respective franchises reach the playoffs. Many overseas players are signed up with the Vitality T20 Blast and may have to make a choice between PSL and Vitality T20 Blast. The ECB’s domestic T20 tournament, Vitality T20 Blast is slated to happen from June 9 to September 9.
“The problem now is that many players from England had signed up for PSL 2021 but with the Vitality blast starting from June 9 and also keeping in mind the international commitments of the England and other teams in June franchises are in trouble,”
a franchise official was quoted to the PTI.
The international schedule is packed in June, with plenty of tours lined up. England is scheduled to play a two-match Test series against New Zealand from June 2 to 14, while Ireland will be playing the Netherlands from June 2 to 7. Sri Lanka is set to tour England in June for a three-match T20I series, while Bangladesh and Australia will be playing a series against Zimbabwe and West Indies, respectively. New Zealand and India will be going head to head in the final of the World Test Championship in England from June 18 to 22.
Aditionally, the players are hesitant to travel to Pakistan due to the rising cases of Covid and the mishandling of the bio-bubble by PCB. With the uncertainty over the players’ availability, PSL has decided to hold the draft next month for the replacements of the players.
