COVID-19 in Pakistan: There has been a resurgence of the third wave of COVID-19 throughout the country over the past month. Numbers of deaths and infections have constantly increased and new variants have been spotted. This has led to a number of partial lockdowns in the country.
All PSL franchises have asked the PCB to move the remaining games of #PSL6 to UAE due to the rising COVID-19 cases in Pakistan.
The tournament is due to resume on June 1 with the final scheduled for June 20.
Via: ESPNCricinfo pic.twitter.com/9lK3oECwtC
— Grassroots Cricket (@grassrootscric) May 4, 2021
Franchises request: A formal letter has been written to the PCB by all six franchises and was sent last week asking them to shift the remaining of the PSL to UAE instead of Karachi. Under current plans, the remainder of the tournament is expected to be played from June 2 to 20 in Karachi, however concerns are being raised at the insane amount of COVID-19 cases emerging in the country.
Theres a news i got about 1 week ago, i think its time to share, When PSL governing body announced the rescheduled PSL games they put Dubai as stand up venue for PSL incase the COVID situation goes bad(God Forbid no) in Pakistan after EID. Hotels and Grounds both on stand by.
— M. Sarosh Ebrahim (@msarosh) May 3, 2021
Franchises lost a lot of money over the past 2 seasons of PSL because of the 2020 postponement and the 2021 suspension. Franchises fear the repeat of similar trends that occurred this season and do not want the season to get suspended again, which looks like a real possibility specially with what happened in India.
Feasibility of moving: Moving the tournament to UAE will come with its own challenges, but that is a risk the franchises are willing to take considering how nervous the situation of the pandemic has become in the country.
The Pakistan Super League might be heading back to the UAE for the remainder of season 6.#PSL6
— Change of Pace (@ChangeofPace414) May 4, 2021
Pakistan has reduced their inbound and outbound flights, so moving the players will be an issue, furthermore the weather in UAE around June is not favourable for cricket.
#BREAKING: UAE airlines cancel some #Pakistan flights; expats' travel plans affected#COVID19
https://t.co/9hZ5c0XRHJ— Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) May 3, 2021
However, the cost of another suspension or stoppage of the PSL will be something that might be too much to bear for the PCB, franchises and other stakeholders so the PCB is believed to be considering the request and reviewing current plans.