Why does PSL mean so much to Pakistanis?

When the Pakistan Super League (PSL) launched in 2016, it was a 5-team tournament with just 24 matches played in the UAE. If you compared it with any other league from the Test Cricket playing nations, the PSL was by far the smallest league. Even the Bangladesh Premier League and the now-defunct, Sri Lankan Premier League, had more teams.

The quality of cricket throughout the tournament was pretty average. With mostly imbalanced teams, bowling-heavy, batting-light squads, the pitches weren’t conducive for T20 cricket and all this resulted in low-scoring and one-sided matches. 

The Indian Premier League (IPL) started with Brendan McCullum smashing 158 off just 73 balls. While the PSL started with Islamabad United Scoring 128/7 in 20 overs. During the 48 innings, play. Well before half the tournament was completed, the top four qualifying teams were virtually decided. There was no excitement left from a cricketing point of view.

That was the bitter reality, but no Pakistani was willing to believe it. Why? Because they owned it. From the team owners to the few spectators in the UAE stadiums to the millions of fans watching back home, everyone owned it. This reality was overshadowed by the sheer passion and ownership of Pakistani cricket fans. 

The first close match in the PSL was played between Islamabad United and Karachi Kings, in which, Karachi, needing 16 runs in the final over, could muster only 13 and ended up losing by 2 runs. At this point, you could already see Pakistani social media filled with comparisons with IPL. When Muhammad Nabi struck a last-ball four to guide Quetta Gladiators to a 2-wicket win against Lahore Qalandars, while chasing 201, you could see everyone going crazy with excitement and comparisons only continued to grow.

Fast forward to 2020 and the PSL has gone through a lot of changes from the first edition. For starters, the first edition was exclusively played in the UAE and the current, fifth edition is being exclusively played in Pakistan. 

It has come a long way. It is a successful tournament, one of the best ones in the T20 circuit. Why? Because the Pakistani people owned it. 

The PSL has been so many things for Pakistan. It was Pakistan’s opportunity to show the world that they haven’t been left behind when it came to the glitz and glamour of worldwide T20 leagues. 

It was also quenching the thirst of Pakistani fans who had been deprived of seeing their local players play in a T20 tournament. After all, it is only the Pakistani players who could not play in the IPL. Seeing their neighbours creating a T20 league and making it one of the most successful brands in the world and  not even being able to see your team play for years at their home grounds was extremely hard. 

So, when the PSL came along, Pakistani people were excited. For them it was a tournament that would compete with IPL, it was an opportunity for them to enjoy seeing their players playing with foreign stars in the same team. 

It was no joke that the Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings match was watched by more people in the country than the game between India and Pakistan at the 2015 World Cup. It was also a blessing in disguise for them, with a country divided, infighting on the political front and Pakistan cricket on a downward spiral, it was something to enjoy without the fear of getting hurt or having their hearts broken. 

It was not an easy road though, a final in Lahore in 2017, three matches and a final in Karachi in 2018, 8 matches in Pakistan for the 2019 tournament and now in 2020, the whole tournament is being played in 4 cities across the country. This is nothing short of a miracle for many. 

Cricket, especially the PSL more than anything has been the biggest platform to showcase to the world what we are all about. No matter how much we said it, no one believed Pakistan was back to being peaceful, be it on the global front, political front or on social media. 

Through cricket, we have shown the whole world, at least the cricket-watching world that this is not the Pakistan of 2009. This is a better and safer Pakistan. Because where else do you see people thanking a player who is being paid to do their job? Not just that but actually celebrating and cheering the oppositions’ players? 

Where else do you see thousands of thousands of them visiting the stadiums with banners showing heartwarming messages that we have defeated terrorism, and that no matter who wins or loses, it is cricket and Pakistan who have been the winners. 

But it is the Pakistani fans who have taken this league from a mismanaged, average and small tournament to a brand that has established itself around the world within a few years.

One of the banners at Multan Cricket Stadium aptly displayed the words “It is not Sultans vs Zalmi, it is Pakistan vs Terrorism”. The fact is, Pakistanis have won; against all the beamers, bouncers and googlies, against all the odds, we’ve surely won!