The Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, has vowed to take action against players who have left the Pakistan Super League for the Indian Premier League at the 11th hour. The PSL 2026 is set to begin on March 26, two days ahead of the IPL, with some foreign players choosing the Indian cash-rich league over the PSL.
International players like Blessing Muzarabani and Dasun Shanaka have chosen the IPL over the PSL this season, a move that has clearly not gone down well with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials. PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday warned of legal action against international players who withdraw just before the start of the tournament.
“We will take action against those players according to the rules,” Naqvi said during a media briefing on Sunday. “There was a case last year, too [Corbin Bosch, who was banned from the PSL for one year], and the same thing will happen this time.”
Naqvi speaks up on PSL’s clash with the IPL
Meanwhile, Naqvi also spoke on the PSL’s clash with the Indian cash-rich league, stating that the board had no other window for the tournament. “Clashing with the IPL is not an issue because if players are going there, we’re getting excellent players coming here as well. We could not afford to postpone the PSL because we have no other window all year.”
Apart from the above-mentioned duo, Gudakesh Motie, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Ottneil Baartman and Spencer Johnson are also among those who have opted out of the PSL; however, most of them have withdrawn due to personal reasons.
PSL to begin without crowd on March 26
The PCB also announced that the initial phase of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 will be played behind closed doors due to heightened tensions in the region stemming from the West Asia war. The PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, stated that the tournament will begin on March 26, but the spectators won’t be allowed to enter for the initial phase at least. He also confirmed that this edition of the PSL will be limited to two venues — Karachi and Lahore.
Crowd absence due to oil crisis in Pakistan
The move has been necessitated due to Pakistan facing the oil crisis amidst the Iran-USA-Israel conflict. “The Prime Minister requested all of Pakistan to restrict their movements because of the fuel crisis,” Naqvi said during a media conference in Lahore. “We closed schools and instituted work from home and increased the number of Eid holidays. We don’t know how long this war will last.
“Looking at all of this and after discussions with our security agencies, we decided that the PSL would continue as per the original schedule. But we can’t ask people to restrict their movements and then have 30,000 people in stadiums every day. We decided that as long as this crisis is ongoing, we will not have crowds at matches. This was a difficult decision, but it needed to be made. The opening ceremony will also be cancelled,” he added.
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