‘BPL has more foreign players than PSL’: Rashid Latif

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has lamented the lack of progress of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) compared with other leagues.

Following Pakistan’s early exit from the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024, former cricketers have urged for brining major changes in the Pakistan cricket including domestic circuit.

In a recent interview, Rashid Latif mentioned a major difference between cricketing set-ups in Pakistan and India, saying that the neighbouring country developed its cricket as a business while the sport remain a hobby in Pakistan.

“India, just like their film industry, developed a cricket industry. We treat cricket as a hobby that’s why we couldn’t turn it into a business. PSL is still there from where it had started. The highest salary cap is $140,000. Why can’t they push it further? Why can’t we have players like Mitchell Starc or Pat Cummins? Because we do not have the money so there is no business,” he added.

According to Rashid Latif, India has continuously worked on its grassroot cricket and hired prominent coaches to groom young players.

“It’s not that India became a reckoning force in world cricket recently, after the World Cup. Go back to 2007, 2011, 2015. They have gained so much knowledge from the foreign coaches and at the same time, they are working at the grassroots level without being noticed,” the former captain said.

“And then IPL came into play. And now, they have all the best minds with them. They have Ponting with DC, Hussey, and Bravo.” he added.

The former wicketkeeping batter also highlighted the slow progress of Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the failure of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to attract top international players.

“People who conceptualised PSL were thrown out within a year. They had a vision to expand it but it never happened. BPL has more foreign players than PSL. Moeen Ali is there, and so is David Miller, just because they have the money. We couldn’t progress,” he added.

Last month, India won their second T20 World Cup after the Rohit Sharma-led side defeated South Africa by seven runs in Barbados.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have not won an ICC title since the 2017 Champions Trophy. They were eliminated from the T20 World Cup in the group stage after they lost two out of their four games.