The Success Story of Pakistan’s Sports Diplomacy: Pakistan Super League

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The eighth edition of Pakistan Super League is all set to kick off from 13th February, 2023 with defending champions Lahore Qalandars taking on Multan Sultans at Multan cricket stadium. The league has been an important part of the revival of sports in the country and has grown big enough to be known as one of the toughest and most valuable cricket leagues in the world, standing alongside the likes of the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League.

The 6-team tournament has been a huge success in terms of what it has contributed to the country apart from increasing quality cricket in the country. It can only be understood by knowing a bit of the country’s history in this matter.

It dates back to March 3, 2009, when the Sri Lankan cricket team got attacked by armed militants on its way to Gaddafi Stadium to play the second test match against the Pakistan cricket team. The Sri Lankan team was taken back to Colombo through special arrangements. This horrifying incident shook the country’s image all over the globe and closed the doors to international sports events happening in the country.

The blow was so big that every upcoming event (including non-sports events) that was to be hosted by Pakistan was either cancelled or snatched by the respective international bodies and given to other countries. Pakistan was left isolated in the global arena and had no clue or direction to move. The country’s performance deteriorated on every platform, whether it was sports, politics, law and order, the economy, or education.

In one of its darkest periods since its inception back in 1947, Pakistan was a hopeless kid caged in a room with no light and snakes all around it. In such circumstances, came the idea of Pakistan’s first ever multi-million dollar sports league from the Pakistan Cricket Board. The work on the league got initiated in 2012 by then Chairman Mr. Chaudhary Muhammad Zaka Ashraf, and after much work, the league finally got launched as the "Pakistan Super League," which consisted of 5 teams and was given a draft system for signing players to increase its competitiveness unlike the neighbouring IPL.

Its first edition was held in the grounds of U.A.E which Pakistan was using as a home ground since 2009’s terror attack, and the quality of cricket in the league took the cricketing world by storm, the combination of pace and swing, with high turning spinners, the league became a hit from the moment Australia’s Shane Watson faced the in swinging deliveries of Anwar Ali in the very first over.

The fans back home craved for such action to be back at home, and so the PCB started working with the government of Pakistan in order to bring the league back home. The Final of the second edition got planned to be hosted right where the darkness began, The Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

It came out as a huge challenge, as several international players backed out because of security concerns, but the franchises of Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi were somehow able to get four international players ready to play the final by offering them heavy bonuses and incentives.

It was a huge win for the country, as Pakistan roared onto the international stage and sent a crystal-clear message to the people having security concerns in the country. Although it still took a further 3 years for the league to be held completely on home soil, it had broken the barriers of international isolation that it had been facing for the past 8 years.

Through the PSL, the country was able to attract international events back to its soil with events like the Kabaddi World Cup of 2020, the International Open Squash Championships, and Davis Cup Ties, plus, according to the website macrotrends.net, Pakistan saw a 9.49% increase in tourism in 2017 and an almost 23% increase in 2019. Pakistan hosted the 57-nation OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries) conference, and brands like Spotify, SWVL, Uber, Amazon, and Careem entered the Pakistani market and gave a boost to the country’s economy.

Today, Pakistan’s positive image is indebted to the Pakistan Super League because of which the country now has a wave of international events coming towards it, and a continuous rise in the tourism graph alongside foreign investments is expected as the country looks to be back on the world map, where it once stood in glory and pride of green and white.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 25, 2023 at 2:07 PM

    I agreed to it, comprehensive very well written, and structured.

    ReplyDelete

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