Islamabad United owner Ali Naqvi calls for matches between IPL and PSL teams

Karachi: Ali Naqvi, the owner of the Islamabad United franchise, who are the defending champions in the Pakistan Super League, has called for matches to be played between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and PSL teams.

“I think we should consider having regular matches between teams from the IPL and PSL which are the best leagues in the world,” Naqvi told reporter here.

Naqvi said he had also suggested to the owners of the Mumbai Indians to play a friendly with Islamabad United but that didn’t happen.

Naqvi, however, conceded that conditions at present were not conducive for this to happen but said cricket always has played a big role in reducing tensions between Pakistan and India.

“Some thought should be given to this suggestion. It can happen sometime in the future,” he said.

Incidentally, former Pakistan allrounder Abdul Razzaq had made a similar suggestion a few days back, calling for a match between the champion teams of both leagues.

But he copped lot of flak when he said that PSL was a more quality league and that PSL team would beat the IPL side.

Naqvi announced that New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi would be the coach-cum-player in the upcoming PSL 5 and he will work with head coach, Misbah-ul-Haq.

The PSL 5 is being held for the first time in Pakistan from February 20 with matches in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has achieved notable success by getting some top foreign players to agree to play the league in Pakistan.