PCB CEO Wasim Khan hopeful of completing the PSL season in November

Having failed to complete the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is planning to hold the remaining matches of the competition in November, provided that the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic improves in the next few months. PCB CEO Wasim Khan spoke about it on Sunday.

The PCB had to postpone the tournament on last week before the semifinals after it was revealed that a foreign player showed symptoms of the virus. Previously, the PCB was holding the games behind closed doors. Not only that, they also had to cut short the competition by four days and replaced the playoffs by semifinals in their desperate attempt to finish it quickly.

But just hours before the semifinals on Tuesday, the PCB had to call-off the tournament for the time being. The board is now looking to hold the remaining games of the fifth edition of the PSL during a 10-day window available in November.

“But we have to first sit down and discuss the situation with all the franchise owners because there are also suggestions that Multan Sultans which topped the points table should be declared winners or to have these remaining matches before the PSL-6 early next year,” Wasim Khan was quoted as saying by The Scroll.

PCB suffer huge loss

Wasim Khan further insisted that PCB is in a good financial health and will not face any crisis for a year even if the COVID-19 pandemic continues.  However, he also confirmed that the board had suffered a huge financial loss due to the suspension of the PSL. The PCB chief executive claimed that the board has faced a loss of Rs 200 millions for failing to complete the competition.

“The Coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire world and sports globally. We have money and are not facing any financial crisis. Approximately our losses are around Rs 200 million due to loss of gate money and some sponsorship revenues,” he added.

Khan said the PCB had also suffered revenue losses of around $3 to 4 million due to the postponement of the ODI and Test match against Bangladesh which were to be held in April but have been postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Bangladesh were set to visit Pakistan for their last leg of the tour but called-off the series for obvious reasons.