PCB says remainder of PSL 2021 could be postponed further

The remaining 20 matches of PSL-6 could be postponed if the PCB doesn't get the required approvals from the Abu Dhabi government by Thursday.

PSL was postponed in March after six cricketers and one support staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday said it would be forced to postpone the remaining 20 matches of PSL 6 if it doesn't get the required approvals from the UAE government by Thursday.

The PCB has informed the six franchise owners that it has deferred the decision on the fate of the season by 24 hours.

"If we do not receive clarity by Thursday afternoon, then we have no other option but to request postponement of the remaining 20 matches," PCB CEO Wasim Khan said in a statement.

 

A seven-member PCB team has been in the UAE for the last one week and has been trying to get required approvals through the Emirates Cricket Board.

"Some of the conditions put forth by the UAE authorities make it next to impossible for the PCB to host the matches in UAE," a PCB source said.

The 2021 edition was suspended only after 14 matches, following a spate of Covid-19 cases among players and support staff. The PCB then decided to hold the remaining matches in the UAE after the National Command and Operations Authority, which monitors the COVID-19 situation in Pakistan, advised it against holding the remaining games again in Karachi.

 

"In today's online discussion, we updated the team owners that the PCB had been advised that the PSL had received approvals from the relevant authorities in the UAE," Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive, said after the meeting. "However, some clarifications on certain exemption requests are still awaited, which are expected at some stage on Thursday.

"The team owners agreed that if we do not receive clarity by Thursday afternoon, then they'll have no other option but to request postponement of the remaining 20 matches."