PSL 2021: Shahid Afridi blames Pakistan Cricket Board for league's postponement

Karachi: Former skipper Shahid Afridi has criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for postponing the sixth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) due to the COVID-19 scare among the franchises, saying the deferment proved that PCB didn’t have a plan B to fall back on. Speaking at a function in Lahore on Wednesday, Afridi said that the PSL should not have been postponed. “The PSL is a very big brand of Pakistan and Pakistan cricket and it is unfortunate that the PCB didn’t appear to have a plan B for this important event,” he said. “It appears they didn’t have a plan B when the COVID-19 cases were detected among some players and officials and this is surprising to me. The postponement didn’t send out a good message,” he said. Nadeem Omar, the owner of Quetta Gladiators franchise, also held the PCB responsible for failing to maintain the bio-bubble created for the event in Karachi. “I think the PCB is 90 percent responsible for the faults in the bio-secure bubble created for the tournament which eventually led to the postponement of the PSL,” he said. Omar also noted that PCB chairman Ehsan Mani had admitted that there was a communication gap between the board and the six PSL franchises, one of the reasons for bio-bubble’s failure.