Sethi wants to make PSL private entity

Dubai - PSL Chairman wants to step down at the end of the next year

Pakistan Super League (PSL) chairman Najam Sethi is planning to make the successful league a private entity.
The control of the PSL will be handed over to a board of directors to be hired from outside, according to the PSL Chairman, who also said that he would step down at the end of the next year.
He added that the owners of franchises will be offered the posts on the board and they will be fully involved in the business of running the PSL. 
Sethi announced these plans at the book launch of Islamabad United at a hotel in Dubai on Wednesday.
"I want to leave legacy as the PSL chairman. We want to formulate rules to make the proceedings more transparent," he stressed.
"In the first year we did face some problems but we want to iron out all that," he added.
Sethi, however, failed to mention the problematic issues but some of the franchises were unhappy with how the draft was conducted last year.
"Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is rocked by many issues and I do not want those problems in the PSL," said Sethi.
Sethi is trying his best to host the final of the PSL in Lahore this year. The situation is a lot better in the provincial capital as currently 16 teams from armed forces of different countries are playing in the Physical Agility and Combat Efficiency System (PACES) T20 cricket tournament in Lahore.
"The green lights are on and we are confident we will be able to host the PSL final in Lahore this year," said Sethi exuding confidence about realising his dream of PSL final in Pakistan.
He revealed that a clause was included in the contracts of the players that if a players' particular team reaches the final he has to be part of it. There are some extra incentives for the foreign players to play in Lahore.
"I hope barring any untoward incident we will be able to bring big-time cricket back to Lahore."
The PSL was seen as an enormous success in its first edition with a profit of $2.6m.
Some more top ranked cricketers have enrolled with the PSL sides recently.
The PSL chairman also reckons that PSL is changing the cricketing scenario in Pakistan as some of the young players have broken into the Pakistan national side after performing in PSL.
Sethi hailed the Islamabad United owner Ali Naqvi for offering extra money to buy the team in 2015.
Sethi added: "My idea is that the PSL should not succumb to regional or departmental interests and that it should be independent of those because we want to give it a new dimension. We have done it against all odds and now we want to make it more transparent."
liaqat@khaleejtimes.com