PCB plans T20 league for March 2013

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is set to hold its proposed super league T20 tournament, named the Pakistan Premier League, in March this year. A source in PCB told PTI that tentatively the super league has been planned from March 24 in Lahore, a day after Pakistan’s tour to South Africa ends. “The chairman of the board, Zaka Ashraf is expected to unveil league’s logo on Thursday,” the source said. [caption id=“attachment_582060” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PCB chief Zaka Ashraf. AFP[/caption] The PCB has already formed a secretariat to run the T20 event. Former banker, Sarwar Salman Butt has been appointed as the managing director while the board is also paying former ICC executive Haroon Lorgat USD 25,000 monthly to work as advisor for the tournament, the source said. An Indian company has also been acting as consultant for the board on the league. “The PCB has made up its mind to go ahead with the super league in March and Lorgat, the Indian company and the executive director Badar Rafai were using their contacts to to sign overseas players,” the source said. “The PCB is hopeful that particularly the involvement of Lorgat as tournament consultant and advisor will have long term benefits for them and they should be able to attract some notable players for the event.” The super league will start after the Pakistan’s tour to South Africa ends in March while the Indian Premier League begins in the first week of April. The source said it had been decided to have five franchises for the league. PTI