In the very first instance, Ramiz Raja, the former president of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), had intended to launch the Pakistan Women’s T20 league concurrently with the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL). However, under the new PCB management committee, it won’t proceed as expected. The league will now take place in September at the direction of the new committee, led by Najam Sethi. The new league will now consist of four independent teams.
The window would not have been impossible because the first women’s IPL season is also slated to begin in March 2023.
Following the announcement of the postponement, the PCB will now continue to look into options for the league, including perhaps holding some exhibition games during the men’s PSL. But this notion was also shelved.
ESPNcricinfo reports that the PCB administration has shelved these proposals due to a shortage of funding. Instead, they are concentrating on building out the infrastructure to increase the number of players available around the nation. PCB will have difficulty forming teams from the local pool because there are so few players on the Pakistan women’s circuit—roughly 30-35 cricketers at the senior level.
Pakistan had 12 centrally contracted women’s players at the time the league was announced, up from 8 the year before. For the league, Pakistan will require at least an additional 28 local athletes.
Women cricket players are now a part of the Lahore Qalandars’ Player Development Programme, which is an expansion of the PSL franchise. Interestingly, superstars like Haris Rauf have been nurtured in the past by the PDP. At their high-performance centre, they now have a batch of over 20 girls in the development stage.
Raja planned to use the PSL production business to his advantage and depend on their presence during the PSL to cover the women’s PSL, which would have helped save a sizable amount of money on logistics and production.
Though there was no refund or cost-sharing on the cards, PSL franchises had protested to this. To create the league from the ground up as a separate body, the new management is willing to accept public bids. Additionally, some PSL franchises have indicated that they would like to own teams in the women’s league.
“There will be no question on the quality of cricket that will be played in over 34 days of action-packed cricket. I am hoping the PSL will once again live up to its expectations of unearthing and identifying future stars who will not only challenge the established household names in this edition but will go on to represent Pakistan,” Sethi noted on a higher stratum.
The window would not have been impossible because the first women’s IPL season is also slated to begin in March 2023.
Following the announcement of the postponement, the PCB will now continue to look into options for the league, including perhaps holding some exhibition games during the men’s PSL. But this notion was also shelved.
ESPNcricinfo reports that the PCB administration has shelved these proposals due to a shortage of funding. Instead, they are concentrating on building out the infrastructure to increase the number of players available around the nation. PCB will have difficulty forming teams from the local pool because there are so few players on the Pakistan women’s circuit—roughly 30-35 cricketers at the senior level.
Pakistan had 12 centrally contracted women’s players at the time the league was announced, up from 8 the year before. For the league, Pakistan will require at least an additional 28 local athletes.
Women cricket players are now a part of the Lahore Qalandars’ Player Development Programme, which is an expansion of the PSL franchise. Interestingly, superstars like Haris Rauf have been nurtured in the past by the PDP. At their high-performance centre, they now have a batch of over 20 girls in the development stage.
Raja planned to use the PSL production business to his advantage and depend on their presence during the PSL to cover the women’s PSL, which would have helped save a sizable amount of money on logistics and production.
Though there was no refund or cost-sharing on the cards, PSL franchises had protested to this. To create the league from the ground up as a separate body, the new management is willing to accept public bids. Additionally, some PSL franchises have indicated that they would like to own teams in the women’s league.
“There will be no question on the quality of cricket that will be played in over 34 days of action-packed cricket. I am hoping the PSL will once again live up to its expectations of unearthing and identifying future stars who will not only challenge the established household names in this edition but will go on to represent Pakistan,” Sethi noted on a higher stratum.
