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Thursday March 28, 2024

Sultans join league as PSL 3 opens with rousing ceremony

By by our correspondent
February 23, 2018

DUBAI: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) organisers on Thursday night proved that they weren’t exaggerating by promising in the lead up to the Twenty20 league that PSL 3 will be bigger and better in every manner than the previous two editions.

The PSL rolled into action here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium with a stunning opening ceremony, much bigger and more impressive than the ones in 2016 and 2017.

From ‘Dhamadham mast qalandar’ by Pakistani music icon Abida Parveen to a memorable performance by US rapper Jason Derulo, the ceremony had everything you expect from any event marking the start of a high-profile sporting contest.

On the cricket field, the PSL has embraced a new team – Multan Sultans – that has seasoned men like the great Wasim Akram and Tom Moody at the helm as coaches and vastly-accomplished players like skipper Shoaib Malik and Kumar Sangakkara in the line-up.

But the biggest promise of the PSL is that it will have its last three games including the March 25 finale on home soil.

That’s going to be another baby step towards the return of international cricket in Pakistan. The fact that Karachi – Pakistan’s biggest city and commercial hub – will stage the final will be the icing on the cake as the metropolis hasn’t hosted a major cricket match since a Test against Sri Lanka back in 2009.

If everything goes according to plan, then there are high hopes that the entire PSL season in 2019 will be played on Pakistani soil.But that’s still a year away.

At the moment hundreds of millions of eyeballs in Pakistan and abroad are fixated on PSL action which began on Thursday night with Sohail Tanvir, the left-arm pacer of Sultans bowling a terrific first over against defending champions Peshawar Zalmi. Put into bat by the Sultans, Zalmi opted to open with Bangladesh star Tamim Iqbal and Kamran Akmal, the highest scorer of last year’s edition. The towering Mohammad Irfan then removed Akmal in his very first over to put Zalmi on the back foot.

Earlier, Abida Parveen stole the show as thousands of spectators at the packed Dubai International Stadium swayed in time to the music as the queen of sufi music performed a medley of some of her hit songs including “Laal Meri Pat”. Ali Zafar also enthralled the fans with some of his hits including the anthem of PSL 3.

In one of the segments that took place, amidst some spectacular fireworks and light show, Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain, involved the captains of the participating teams in an interesting chit-chat. Sarfraz Ahmed, skipper of the Quetta Gladiators was disappointed at the absence of his team’s charismatic mentor Vivian Richards, who had to miss the occasion because of visa delays.

Ramiz is always interested in Misbah-ul-Haq’s age and on Thursday night made another funny inquiry when he asked the Islamabad United captain whether his “batteries were still working well” at the ripe old age of 43. Misbah, as always, remained cool as a cucumber.

The PSL 3 is off to a spectacular start with hopes that unlike the second edition, which was rocked by a corruption scandal at the very onset, this tournament will be held smoothly.

Today’s Fixtures

Karachi Kings v Quetta Gladiators

04:30 pm PST

Multan Sultans v Lahore Qalanders

09:00 pm PST