PSL 2017 final to be held in Lahore

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Sunday (January 8), stated that the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be held in Lahore on March 9. According to a report on ESPNcricinfo, the board is also drafting a back-up plan in case some of the overseas players who have signed up for the League decide to not travel to the Asian nation due to security concerns.

The PCB is expected to hold another draft in February to draw up a new list of players who are ready to partake in the final in Lahore. In case all the foreign players back out from the final, the board is expected to replace them with local cricketers. The tournament is scheduled to start on February 9 in Dubai (UAE) with Peshawar Zalmi taking on Islamabad United.

Earlier in October 2016, Najam Sethi, PSL`s Chairman, had said that the final is slated to be held in Lahore. "The second edition of the PSL, with five teams in the competition, will be more successful and the final will be held in Lahore," Sethi had noted.

"International players know what we can do; most of them are ready to come to Pakistan and play. It will be a fly-in, fly out plan and the government has promised to give full security to the players. We are convinced that the final will happen in Lahore," he had added.

The Punjab government has also given the green signal for the match to go ahead by taking necessary steps to provide tight security. However, Federation of International Cricketers` Associations (FICA) in October last year had stated that security risks for foreign cricketers willing to tour Pakistan were still high.

After terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus near the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore in March 2009, Pakistan has been bereft of international cricket. Zimbabwe is the only international team to have toured the Asian nation since that attack.

Source: Cricbuzz