Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s Chief Executive Office (CEO) Wasim Khan has urged the franchise owners to not get involved in the blame game and ‘accept collective responsibility.
After the postponement of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 on Thursday following seven positive coronavirus cases, franchise owners of Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings blamed the PCB for not making sure that the bio-secure bubble remained intact.
Wasim, while talking to the media at the National Stadium in Karachi on Thursday, said that he can understand the emotions involved from the franchise owners.
“To make any bio-secure bubble successful, it needs partnership and sacrifice from everyone,” he said. “It is not about the blame game right now. There are a lot of emotions at the moment. Franchises have invested a lot of money and I know that there will be reactions from different sectors.
“But as I said before, to make any bio-secure bubble, everyone needs to be on the same page, that’s how we managed to conduct a successful domestic season. I understand why they [franchise owners] are saying things like these but it is not about the blame game, its about Pakistan cricket and it’s welfare. It is not the time to fight right now. It is time to accept collective responsibility.”
Wasim further said that his own proposal was to postpone the event for five days, continue testing but the franchises rejected the idea.
“My own proposal was to postpone the tournament for five days and see where it goes,” he said. “But the franchises made it clear that the players are anxious and not in the mental state to continue with the tournament.”
Wasim also reiterated that the SOP’s were shared with the franchises before the competition but no bio-secure bubble can be successful without self-policing.
“The protocols were shared with the franchises on February 18,” he said. “We are not sure where or how the players contracted coronavirus. You cannot make any bio-secure bubble successful without self-policing.”
