PSL6 to go ahead with its remaining matches in Abu Dhabi

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that the remaining matches of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six will go ahead as planned in Abu Dhabi.

PCB's Director Media and Communications, Sami al Hasan Burney confirmed this in a tweet on Thursday.

Later, PCB's official Twitter handle also confirmed the news.

The development comes as the government of UAE allows exemptions that the PCB was looking for. The decision came a day after it was conveyed to the PSL franchises that the league could be postponed due to operational challenges.

On Tuesday, the UAE government had given a green light to host the remaining PSL matches in Abu Dhabi. However, it had conditioned that every individual involved in the league should be vaccinated.

However, the vaccine condition had put PCB in a fix as it had not enough time to ensure vaccination of each and every individual, from players to officials, to organizers to people from the production team within 10 days. The seven-day mandatory quarantine was yet another issue.

On the other hand, holding the remaining tournament in Karachi is also very difficult due to a rise in the COVID-19 in Sindh. During the last 24 hours, the province logged more than 2,000 cases for the first time since November 2020.

These operational issues have forced Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to reconsider its decision to hold the remaining matches in June, the only vacant window for the board this year.

The cricket board had called a meeting of PSL franchises to finalize the venue.

In a press release post-meeting, PCB CEO, Wasim Khan said that the cricket board has updated the team owners that the PSL had received approvals from the relevant authorities in the UAE. However, some clarifications on certain exemption requests are still awaited, which are expected at some stage on Thursday.

“The team owners agreed 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.”

In the meantime, the liaison with the UAE government and the Emirates Cricket Board will continue, as they are equally keen for the event to be held in the UAE, he added.