Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen has shared a constructive roadmap for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to strengthen the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and boost its global standing, especially as the league struggles to make an impact in the current cricket landscape.
In a recent podcast with ProSports, Tareen, who has enjoyed a fruitful five-year journey as the owner of Multan Sultans, emphasized the initial steps the PCB needs to take to enhance the league as it faces competition from across the globe.
Tareen’s message to the PCB is clear: while the PSL has made significant strides, it risks stagnation if it doesn’t evolve with the times.
“They have made the PSL into a separate company. That’s a great first step. Only Mohsin Naqvi could have taken such a major step.”
He pointed out that the stagnation might stem from the project being too big for the current team involved.
“The PSL generates a lot of revenue. From franchises alone, it makes billions (rupees); then there’s broadcasting and sponsorship—it’s huge. Let’s say the PSL is the same size as Engro (a major Pakistani conglomerate). Would the people currently working at the PSL ever be employed at Engro? Could the CEO of the PSL become the CEO of Engro? No. Could the marketing manager? No. So why aren’t we trying to compete with other equally sized companies in Pakistan to attract top talent? Why are we stuck with the same old faces?” he expressed.
Ali Tareen suggested that the PSL should be treated differently from the PCB.
“If the PCB likes the rankers, that’s fine. But the PSL shouldn’t be subjected to them. The first step is to acknowledge that the PSL is the biggest brand in Pakistan, and we should be hiring people that other multinational companies would be eager to recruit. We need talent that people want to work for,” he said.
Once we have real professionals on board, they can sit down and figure out how to make the PSL bigger and better. The PCB rankers just aren’t the right fit for that.
He also addressed the recent controversy where he criticized the PCB for overhyping PSL X. “I said all that in frustration. But you can’t deny that things aren’t improving; those are facts.”
He further elaborated that the PSL is nowhere near in competition with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is now even competing with the likes of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He stated that his aim is for PCB to realize this and start working on fixing PSL.
Tareen believes that hiring the right people for the job is the first main step before moving forward and bringing innovation to the tournament rules. He stated that why can’t PSL have it’s own rules like the impact sub in the IPL, split powerplay and power surge in the Big Bash League etc.
He believes that such innovation can help garner the interest of the fans and kickstart PSL’s journey to at least become the 2nd best league in the world once again.
Check out the full podcast here:
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