LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reiterated that the final leg of HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL), comprising eight matches, including the March 17 final, will be held in Lahore and Karachi as per the original schedule with all the six franchises and their international stars throwing their weight behind the decision.

The announcement was made by the PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani in a press conference at the Dubai International Stadium ahead of Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings match on Thursday night.

The media conference was attended by the franchise owners, barring Peshawar Zalmi’s Javed Afridi, who had to leave earlier due to a prior commitment.

“I just want to reconfirm that the eight HBL PSL matches will be played in Pakistan as scheduled”, said Mani.

“I would like to thank my colleagues here sitting alongside me for their support in this. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the HBL PSL will continue as business as usual, as we planned. This is a unanimous decision of all of us”, he added.

Mani showed gratitude towards foreign players for maintaining their earlier commitment to Pakistan.

“I am also very grateful to our overseas players who are ready to come to Pakistan. All those who had given their commitment before the start of the event are still with us. They have been supportive and there is no one who has had a second thought”, he said, adding “I am also grateful to all the support staff who are working at the ground. We have a few challenges as you know at the production side that one of our production partners pulled out overnight. But then, the team got together and made sure that we had seamless transition and now I am absolutely confident that we will be in Pakistan as we had planned”.

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