Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has opined the organizers could have completed the 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL) with only local players.
PSL 2021 began last month but the Pakistan Cricket Board had to postpone the tournament because of multiple COVID-19 cases inside the tournament's bio-secure bubble.
Multan Sultans all-rounder Shahid Afridi posted two tweets after learning about the postponement of PSL 2021. Afridi feels the organizers should have allowed the foreigners to leave and then let the local stars play the remaining games.
"Despite this being a challenging situation, I feel the PSL could have been completed even with only local/young players involved. The PSL is all about nurturing new talent. The tournament was very entertaining and provided quality cricket to fans around the world," Shahid Afridi wrote on Twitter.
In the second part of his statement, Shahid Afridi said he backed the organizers' decision to postpone PSL 2021. Afridi also reminded fans that COVID19 was still around and urged everyone to wear masks and follow social distancing rules.
While PSL 2021 will not go ahead as per the original schedule, 14 games of the competition took place before the postponement. The Multan Sultans played in five of them, recording only one victory.
Veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi could not get going in PSL 2021. He scalped two wickets in the match against Islamabad United. However, Afridi returned wicketless in the next three fixtures. He could score only three runs in two innings with the bat.
Many fans of cricket in Pakistan are disappointed following the postponement of PSL 2021 and the organizers will be keen to resume the tournament later this year.