ISLAMABAD: A draft proposal to set up Major League Cricket (MCL) of Pakistan Cricket Board on the lines of the cash-rich Indian Premier League is now being reviewed by the federal government with a few issues of concern, Dawn learnt on Tuesday.

The PCB proposal is being reviewed by four federal ministries — Sports, Law and Justice, Foreign Affairs and Finance.

A senior official of the PCB told Dawn from Lahore that the board in collaboration with the leading UAE-based multinational business group — Bukhatir Group of Companies — is set to start its own MLC “but is anxiously waiting for approval from the federal government.”

A similar proposal was also floated a few years back during the tenure of PCB’s former chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf to start a Pakistan Premier League, however, the idea could not materialise due to his exit from the board, with the departure of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

The PPL was supposed to be launched in 2008 with six teams appearing in the opening round but the cricket board was forced to disband it due to the fragile law and order situation.

A PCB official on condition of anonymity said: “Five teams will feature in the MLC to be played in Sharjah while national players will get a chance in the cash rich league.”

The PCB official questioned the draft saying: “The government is evaluating the draft proposal as they have few concerns. The initial investment for MLC is being funded by the Bukhatir Group and they both [PCB and Bukhatir Group] are equal partners in revenue sharing.

The PCB has not called for Expression of Interests for a likely successful venture but there was no bidding for this scheme raising questions over the future transparency of the deal.”

He said that though PCB was eagerly waiting for the approval of the project as “board is eyeing huge revenues.” The ministry of the sports, he said, was supposed to submit a brief analytical report on the MLC project of the PCB and Bukhatir Group.

A sports analyst said that success of such a venture would largely depend on the initial offerings or the rate at which the foreign players would appear in the cricket league. The MLC, he said, would also limit the interests of Pakistani fans in Test cricket matches, which may be a concern for the cricket board in the long run.

The spokesman for the PCB Nadeem Sarwar refused to comment on the development.
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