PSL Anthem Becomes Controversial Yet Again

Fan highly anticipate the Pakistan Super League anthem every year as it marks the start of the activities of the month-long tournament. PSL now in its sixth year has as many anthems and fans have been divided ever since the anthem of PSL 4 released.

The first three anthems were sung by renowned singer Ali Zafar and after his highly publicized case of sexual harassment, PCB decided to part ways with the singer. Ali’s fans have taken this to heart and every anthem since then has been a point of debate amongst the fans. To their point, the first three PSL anthems were extraordinary and perfectly blended with the extravaganza of PSL.

PSL 2016 – Ab Khel Ke Dikha (Ali Zafar)

PSL 2017 – Ab Khel Jamay Ga (Ali Zafar)

PSL 2018 – Dil Se Jaan Laga De (Ali Zafar)

PSL 5 anthem was one of the most hated anthems in PSL history and it was surrounded by controversy. Ali Azmat, one of the singers of the PSL 5 anthem ‘Tayyar Hain’ indirectly blamed Ali Zafar for the failure of the anthem. Azmat said that Ali Zafar ran a social media campaign against the anthem in retaliation to PCB’s decision of snubbing him.

Zafar replied by releasing his own unofficial PSL anthem, ‘Mela Loot Liya’ within a week of announcing it. Many suspected that this might have been a plot by Ali Zafar and he had already been preparing a song prior to the release of the official anthem.

PSL 5 – Tayyar Hain (Ali Azmat, Haroon, Asim Azhar, Arif Lohar)

Unofficial Anthem – Mela Loot Liya (Ali Zafar)

Moving on one year and the PSL 2021 anthem has created quite a stir once again. Naseebo Lal, Aima Baig and Young Stunners sang the anthem for PSL 6 titled ‘Groove Mera’.

Fans have indulged in a debate once again and many have said that last year’s anthem was better than this, although they weren’t fans of the PSL 5 anthem, while others appreciated the effort and thought that the anthem was unique and was exactly what it needed to be, an anthem, not a song.

When the PSL 5 anthem came out, the reaction was similar, although people weren’t fond of the PSL 4 anthem in the first place. They appreciated it a year late because the new anthem wasn’t to their liking. ‘Khel Deewano Ka’, PSL 4 anthem, sung by Fawad Khan and Young Desi wasn’t appreciated by fans in the first place as well, but it grew on them as it blasted over the speakers in every stadium in every match and people started to like it.

Here’s the PSL 4 anthem:

PSL 4 – Khel Deewano Ka (Fawad Khan and Young Desi)

The story was the same with the PSL 5 anthem. After listening to it over the course of PSL 5, fans grew fond of it and it certainly felt like an anthem when it was played at various stadiums across Pakistan.

‘Tayyar Hain’ is certainly the most disliked anthem to date as it has 132K likes and a whopping 97K dislikes on YouTube. In comparison, ‘Khel Deewano Ka’ has 177K likes and 21K dislikes.

‘Groove Mera’ has 141K likes and 43K dislikes on YouTube and it still doesn’t match the dislike ratio of Tayyar Hain, and just like Tayyar Hain and Khel Deewano Ka, Groove Mera is going to grow on fans as the PSL fever takes over Pakistan. Some cricket lovers might not be fans of the individual artists, but the song itself feels like what it was made for, an anthem for Pakistan Super League.

Finally here’s the PSL 6 anthem: