Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) management committee chairman Najam Sethi has said that the number of teams in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) can be increased to 10 due to high demand.
Sethi shared the aforementioned opinion after being asked how important it is for him that the franchises and the board are on the same page about the payment of the Rs500 million bill given by the Punjab government for security and lighting during PSL 8.
"PSL can't take place without the franchises. Franchises and PCB should be on the same page whenever there is an issue. If there are any disagreements, the brand will be affected. To be on the same page, sometimes the PCB should compromise, while on some occasions the franchises should back off. In the larger interest, both should compromise," Sethi said while talking on the Geo News programme 'Score'.
"There is immense pressure to increase the number of teams in PSL, but unfortunately Ehsan Mani and Ramiz Raja made an agreement with the franchises that only six teams will play in the next two years. However, it was an eight-team project. We have to convince the franchises to include two more teams. No one will lose anything, and if a franchise suffers a loss, the PCB will take responsibility. But there is a high demand to include two more teams, and it will be more successful with many people showing interest to be part of it. Let me tell you, even if there were 10 teams now, all of them would be sold due to the high demand." he said.
It is worth mentioning here that the PSL was initially a five-franchise tournament, but later, Multan Sultans joined PSL after the then chairman Sethi announced after the conclusion of the second edition that there would be a sixth team in the PCB's flagship event.
Earlier, the Prime Minister, also the patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Shehbaz Sharif assured 'full support' to Sethi over continuing the matches in Punjab — Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Later, Sethi shared that caretaker CM Punjab Mohsin Naqvi agreed to share the cost of lighting routes and that the matches would continue as scheduled.
"Good news: CM Punjab Mohsin Naqvi Saheb has been kind enough to agree to share the cost of lighting routes during PSL matches in Lahore. PSL8 matches in Lahore and Pindi shall continue as scheduled," he tweeted.