Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that the Pakistan Super League 2017 final will be held in Lahore on March 7.
The board is preparing a contingency plan to replace those overseas players who are unwilling to travel to the country due to security concerns.
“In the recent governing board meeting it was decided that the final of PSL will be held in Lahore,” a PCB spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “PCB will try to convince players to travel to Pakistan but in the worst case scenario we will have a new draft for the players who are ready to tour Pakistan.”
The PCB will hold a new draft in the last week of February to include foreign players willing to travel to Pakistan as replacement for those who refuse.
“Once the teams for the finals are decided and their icon or foreign players refuse to travel to Lahore, we will make a new draft with a pool from the existing 30-35 players of PSL,” Najam Sethi, PCB’s head of executive committee, was quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “We will probably need about five to ten players for Lahore, and those players who would be available from the discarded three teams can then get picked through this draft for the final.”
The board, meanwhile, has bought four bulletproof buses as part of additional security measures to help convince overseas players to travel to Lahore. A fly-in, fly-out arrangement for the teams has previously been announced as well.
In efforts to bring international cricket back to the country, the PCB also recently invited West Indies to tour Pakistan for two T20s in Lahore. The tour, however, remains subject to security clearances and agreement from the West Indies Players’ Association.
The second edition of PSL is set to kick off on February 9 in the UAE.