There is a big drama going on in Pakistan’s biggest cricket league PSL these days, the tension between the team owners and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is increasing day by day, due to which questions are now being raised whether the upcoming season will be held properly or not.
The most recent controversy started with the appointment of Hijab Zahid, a former official of Multan Sultans, as a senior manager in PSL. Interestingly, PCB did not even issue any formal advertisement for this post!
Many team owners have objected to this appointment and called it a “clear conflict of interest”. But PCB says that this is only a temporary job of 3 months, so an open recruitment process was not necessary.
Now reports are coming that two PCB directors may soon join Multan Sultans, which has further increased the fears of bias.
Moreover, Salman Naseer, who was recently removed from the post of PCB’s Chief Operating Officer, has now become the CEO of PSL.
According to a Cricket Pakistan report, Naseer’s main job now is to run the upcoming PSL 10 season smoothly.
Hijab Zahid, who has now been controversially appointed, had earlier made history by becoming the first female general manager of Multan Sultans in August 2023.
But suddenly, without giving any reason, she parted ways with Multan Sultans and started working in a government TV channel. Now her sudden appointment in PSL has enraged team owners!
Some PSL franchises say that if a former team employee works in the league and then goes back to a team, how will confidentiality and fairness be maintained?
The PCB’s response is that Zahid was not a permanent employee of Multan Sultans and was not playing any major role in PSL, so there is no need for a “cooling-off period”.
Meanwhile, South African all-rounder Corbin Bosch has also decided to skip PSL 2025 and play in IPL 2025. He was earlier supposed to play for Peshawar Zalmi but now he will be a part of Mumbai Indians.
According to a Pakistani journalist, Bosch said that his intention was not to disrespect PSL but he had to prioritise his career as Mumbai Indians are not only strong in IPL but also have teams in many leagues around the world which will benefit his career.
