The overseas contingent led the way, and Krunal showed his captaincy wares in Rahul’s absence, but Hooda’s poor form didn’t help

Ekanth25-May-20235:02

Moody: LSG did well but need Indian batting depth

Where they finishedPosition on table: Third after the league stage, with 17 points
Wins: Eight
Losses: Five
No result: One
Lucknow Super Giants made it to the playoffs for the second time in two years but were knocked out in the Eliminator once again, this time losing to Mumbai Indians in Chennai. Despite KL Rahul’s campaign ending early with a thigh injury, Krunal Pandya led them to three wins in their four league games. But Rahul’s absence, and the underwhelming returns from their other Indian batters, hurt them in the Eliminator.The good: The overseas contingentWith Quinton de Kock away on national duty, Kyle Mayers started the tournament for LSG. His rollicking knocks – three half-centuries in his first three outings – meant de Kock had to warm the bench for a fair few games even when he was available. De Kock finally got his chance when Rahul was ruled out. He scored 143 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 140.19 but was left out for the Eliminator, a move that sparked a debate.If Mayers gave LSG flying starts, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran took care of the middle order, turning games around with their audacious hitting.Stoinis had his most productive season with the bat, topping the run charts for LSG with a tally of 408. He scored those runs at a strike rate of 150 and notched up three fifties. His all-round skills came to the fore against Rajasthan Royals, where he dismissed Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal to help his side defend 154.Pooran was fearless with the bat. His 15-ball half-century against Royal Challengers Bangalore helped LSG chase down 213. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he combined with Stoinis to smash Abhishek Sharma for 31 runs in a game-changing over.LSG’s musclemen: Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis•BCCINaveen-ul-Haq came good in his debut IPL season, making full use of the opportunity he got due to Mark Wood’s illness. Wood had picked up 11 wickets in just four games, but the slow tracks at the Ekana Cricket Stadium meant LSG persisted with Naveen even after Wood had recovered. Naveen ended the season with 11 wickets from eight games, his four-for in the Eliminator going a long way in restricting Mumbai to 182.Among Indian players, Ravi Bishnoi continued his growth by taking 16 wickets at an economy rate of 7.74, while Yash Thakur impressed with 13 wickets from nine games at 9.07.PollThe bad: Hooda’s horrid seasonDeepak Hooda was one of the key Indian players for LSG, more so after Rahul’s injury. But he could muster only 84 runs in 12 innings with a best of 17. Ayush Badoni and Krunal played a couple of handy knocks but in the games where Stoinis and Pooran failed, the middle order looked brittle.With Mohsin Khan not available for the first nine games, Avesh Khan was expected to shoulder extra responsibility. But he had a forgettable season. In nine games, he picked up just eight wickets at an economy of 9.75. With Naveen getting the nod over Wood, LSG missed a strike bowler in the powerplay.Top performer: Nicholas PooranOnce he get going, which he did more often than not, Pooran was unstoppable. His ability to attack from ball one is what allowed him to rack up two 40-plus scores at a strike rate of 300-plus: a 19-ball 62 against RCB and a 13-ball 44 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Both innings illustrate his intelligent selection of boundary options. He finished the season with 26 fours and as many sixes. He was severe against pace bowlers, scoring at a strike rate of 198.14. Against spin, it was slightly lower – 145.45 – but only by Pooran’s standards.The highlights LSG racked up 257 for 5 – the second-highest in the history of IPL – in a record-tumbling innings against Punjab Kings in Mohali. Only two of the 20 overs did not feature a boundary.The 31 runs ransacked by Pooran and Stoinis off Abhishek in the 16th over against Sunrisers were the joint-most in an over in IPL 2023. Pooran’s 15-ball fifty against RCB is the joint-third-fastest in the IPL.

Will Rahul, Iyer and Bumrah be completely fit? Did the SKY experiment work? Will it be Kishan or Samson? Listen in our latest podcast episode

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2023With just two months to go for the men’s ODI World Cup and an Asia Cup campaign to prepare for along the way, who makes the final cut for India?Will Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul get fit in time? Who can replace them if they miss the deadline? What has the SKY experiment at No. 4 taught the team management? And who are India’s seam-bowling options?Comparing notes from a similar episode back in December 2022, Kaustubh Kumar, Vishal Dikshit and George Binoy regroup to take stock of India’s potential squad with an eye on the biggest tournament right around the corner.

Fabian Allen takes a screamer, Pooran and Fletcher turn on the style, and the red card makes another appearance

Rvel Zahid11-Sep-2023Ayub’s back-to-back fifties keep Amazon Warriors unbeatenThe unassuming Saim Ayub played two vital knocks for Amazon Warriors. His 62 off 43 balls guided them to a comfortable six-wicket win over Knight Riders first. Later, in Tarouba, he blasted 58 off 35, his innings laced with six sixes and one four, for a win over Barbados Royals.He also followed it up with a gracious gesture. Ayub was awarded Player of the Match in the game against Royals, but he passed on the award to Gudakesh Motie, who defended just five in the final over of a tense match.It was a tricky surface in Tarouba but Ayub got used to the conditions expertly and helped put his team in pole position. Ayub has picked up form at the crucial time of the tournament and will be a lynchpin for his side in the knockouts.A communication breakdown gives rise to beast PooranIt started with a comical run-out where ideally Nicholas Pooran should have been the one to walk back. That wasn’t the case, though.It was the 20th game of the CPL, and Kieron Pollard tickled a Rahkeem Cornwall delivery to short fine-leg. Pooran hared down to the other end, but Pollard wasn’t going anywhere. Both batters found themselves at the same end. An argument ensued followed by a fist bump as Pooran made his way back to the change room.

Wait a minute, what just happened??? A run out at the Queens Park Oval but who is out Kieron Pollard or Nicholas Pooran? #CPL23 #TKRvBR #CricketPlayedLouder #BiggestPartyInSport pic.twitter.com/uq52I5cfrb

— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 7, 2023

Questions will be asked in the home dressing room after a desultory collapse at Lord’s

Vithushan Ehantharajah30-Jun-20230:50

Patel defends England approach after disastrous day 3

They say this England dressing room is a great place to be. Encouragement for days, emotional reinforcement for weeks. Conversations to take your mind off the cricket. Crosswords to take you away from those conversations. Amenable to your needs and wants, catering to your emotions whether good or bad.Ben Stokes had been back in for no more than 10 minutes before he decided to duck out, moving to the balcony to sit alone on one of the benches. He spent enough time in home dressing room to change out of his whites and into his teal training gear. As he sat there, bucket hat pulled over his eyes to cover the forehead frowns, it was clear he wanted time to himself.His gaze was fixed out onto the field, where he had spent all of two balls. An innings resumed on 17 off 57 was ended abruptly by Mitchell Starc, squared up for an edge to Cameron “Gully” Green. Soon, Brendon McCullum went out to join him, sitting close enough to feel the seethe emanating from his body.Related

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Perhaps it was contagious because it was not long before the head coach was donning a scowl. But while a pillar of McCullum’s relationship with Stokes is empathy, this was not simply emotionally mirroring his captain. He is understood to be just as dismayed at how things have played out in the last few days. And as the pair watched their Test team use the freedom both had bestowed upon them to carry Thursday night’s inexplicable implosion into Friday morning, their unrest was as public as ever.The shambolic descent from 188 for 1 was completed by 12.30pm on day three. A collapse of 3 for 34 “bettered” by a terminal 6 for 46. Australia had been gifted a first innings lead of 91, which they reinforced to 221 by stumps.Harry Brook bagging the worst shot of the innings was arguably the most impressive thing about it all, particularly given the stiff competition provided by Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Ollie Pope. But secure it he did, backing away to the leg side and scuffing a pull shot to Pat Cummins at cover with all the conviction and grace of a man swatting away a hornet with a pan full of hot oil. Jonny Bairstow’s punched drive straight to mid-on barely a spec on the WTF? radar.This was nonsense manifest. Dereliction of duty marketed as an attacking line-up doing what they’ve always done.Assistant coach Jeetan Patel said it was no cop-out to say this “aggressive brand” was “not always going to come off”. But it kind of is when you lean on that crutch in this situation, with the stakes as high as they have ever been, what with this being the second of five matches of an Ashes series where you’re 1-0 down.No one who witnessed their approach last year – the home summer against New Zealand, India and South Africa and the tour of Pakistan – saw similarities to then and now. And it is important not to conflate this dirge with the calculated, controlled aggression they had nailed by the turn of the year. Even if some of the players seem to be.You only need to return to last week’s two-wicket loss in the opener at Edgbaston to find a crisper version of whatever this was. Across both innings of the first Test, England played out broadly the same percentage of dot balls (57.4% to 58% at Lord’s) and attacked less (43.1% to 46.6%). And yet they managed a greater proportion of boundaries (8.5% to 5.8%) and a lower proportion of false shots (15.8% to 21.1%).Part of the reason McCullum hated the term “Bazball” was because he felt it reduced England’s approach to glorified slogging. That the pejorative meaning is creeping to the fore is squarely on those entrusted to maintain its sanctity.Now is as good a time as any to talk about trust. Unlike previous Ashes series where media engagements have been kept to a minimum, McCullum and Stokes figured giving players ownership of their games extended to off-field matters.Ben Stokes was dismissed from his first ball on day three•PA Images via Getty ImagesFollowing the interviews given by Zak Crawley – “we’ll win by, I don’t know, 150″ – and Ollie Robinson stirring the pot enough to turn the contents to mush, there is fear, and a hint of anger, among the management group, including managing director Rob Key, that they have lost their bearings. Whether high on their own supply or merely indulging the hype, all this freedom is being taken for granted. The responsibility that came as part of this deal is not being upheld.That’s the thing about responsibility. You only really discover the limits of how much an individual or group can handle when they’ve been given too much. A team that love boundaries could do with a few more.They’re also falling foul of the loosest of their tenets – to entertain the fans and each other. Those of an English persuasion watching this Friday of an Ashes Test – did you find that entertaining?And did it seem like England were having fun? The bowlers certainly weren’t, and we can’t be far away from the re-emergence of an age-old rift between them and the batters. Almost 24 hours after the quicks had rattled through the final five wickets of Australia’s first innings for 77, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Robinson and Josh Tongue had their bowling boots back on before lunch on day three.More toil is on the horizon, the kind England seemingly think is beneath them. It’s worth noting England have been 323 for 6, 129 for 3 and 188 for 1 in three innings so far, and yet Australia have not had to call upon a second new ball. It’s a favour that will certainly not be reciprocated.Ultimately, this is about respect. Respect for the game. Respect for the Ashes. Respect for the opposition. Respect for your teammates. Respect for your fans. And, well, respect for yourselves.Of course, just like last year, they could chase down whatever they are set in the fourth innings in one spectacular act of force-feeding humble pie to the doubters-turned-haters.”We’ve seen some crazy things from this team,” Patel said. “This team’s about breaking records.”Well, you could describe some of this as “crazy”. And if this team are to get back to those old ways, and back into the Ashes, they need to break some emerging bad habits.

Kia Oval is England’s traditional venue for farewells, but fast bowler is not yet ready to go

Vithushan Ehantharajah26-Jul-2023It was at the Kia Oval five years ago that Alastair Cook finally walked away from Test cricket. A journey that began in 2006, against India in Nagpur, ended against the same opponents in 2018 down in south London. A century on both occasions, signing off with No.33, made the bookends extra neat.Cook had put the word out well before that cap No. 161 would be his last. He informed his team-mates of the decision in the Ageas Bowl home changing-room as England celebrated winning the fourth Test which gave them the series. The official release itself, which came out after that fourth Test, was written by the BBC’s cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew, now a Test Match Special colleague.The farewell could not have gone any better. England won, and Cook even had a helping hand with overthrows getting him to three figures, a rare occurrence in this absurd game packed full of variables. Cricket, for all its glory, for all they throw into it as players, and we as lovers, takes more than it gives. Even from those who have stood by the sport through thin and thinner.All of which feels especially apt on the eve of this fifth Ashes Test, as debate rages about the long-term future of another English great. But James Anderson is not retiring, because he says so. And even if he was, he is hardly likely to give us advance warning.The reason it’s a thing? His four Ashes wickets at 76.75, the fact he turns 41 on Sunday, day four of this final Australia Test. During the Edgbaston Test, he did not take the new ball in the first innings – the first time in 14 years that has happened at home – and then went unused for the final 36.3 overs as Pat Cummins dragged Australia to a 1-0 lead. He then dropped two doozies at Lord’s, before returning to the XI at Emirates Old Trafford after missing the third Test, where he returned figures of one for 81 from 37 overs. As it happens, that homecoming was the first time that Anderson had taken the new ball without bowling the first over in a home Test since June 2016. In the debriefings after the Manchester rains, with England’s Ashes hopes washed away, his former captain Michael Vaughan posited that sentimentality around Anderson might have cost the hosts this series.Those in the dressing-room disagree. They believe Anderson has been unlucky; nicks flying wide of slips, the odd inside-edge missing the stumps and, of course, a dropped catch here and there. The pitches have not quite suited him, which is maybe highlighted by the fact that both sets of openers have had decent series, particularly Zak Crawley and Usman Khawaja, who are first and second in the run charts.”He’s quality, man,” said Stokes, momentarily dropping the posher voice he adopts for press conferences for some real talk. “It’s very hard for you guys to sit here and say he’s not. Although he’s not had the impact or the wickets he would have liked to in this series, he’s a quality bowler and quality performer. Jimmy’s come under a bit of flak for that but if Joe [Root] hadn’t scored the runs he would have liked, you wouldn’t be questioning him staying in the team as a batter. James Anderson is the greatest fast bowler to play the game and he’s still looking as good as he was two years ago, although he hasn’t had the impact that he would have liked in this series.”In Anderson’s latest column for on Monday, he stated that he loves “playing Test cricket as much as I ever have, and this is my favourite period as an England cricketer”. And by all accounts, he is absolutely invested in all this.Anderson has lacked penetration in the course of this Ashes campaign•AFP/Getty ImagesIt’s there in his smiles throughout training, and his work behind the scenes. He has been working as an unofficial bowling coach for a good while, and many of his “students” are team-mates in the current squad. He taught both Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson the wobble-seam, and has now taken new kid on the block Josh Tongue under his wing.Maybe it’s worth stating here that, according to CricViz, Anderson’s expected average – what he might have in a perfect world – is 34.3. Moreover, it was only last summer, with a woeful Dukes on flat pitches, that Anderson registered 27 dismissals at 17.66. And eight months since he took eight wickets at 18.50 in Pakistan on some of the most unresponsive surfaces you’ve ever seen.But this is no perfect world, and as he gears up for what he hopes will be a first Ashes Test victory since Edgbaston 2015 to square this series 2-2, the end feels more unavoidable than ever before. Regardless whether it comes sooner or later.At the end of Cook’s farewell, Anderson was interviewed on Sky to gauge his immediate thoughts. As it happens, he had taken the final wicket of the match, taking out Mohammed Shami’s off stump to move to 564 career dismissals, one ahead of Glenn McGrath and, thus, out in front as the leading fast bowler in the history of Test cricket. Anderson was visibly emotional, failing to suppress tears as he contemplated life beyond Cook, so much so that Ian Ward decided to cut short their interview. Later Cook, amid questions of the legacy he himself was leaving behind, declared his mate “the best cricketer England have ever produced”.Five years on from that assessment, it rings truer as he sits on 689 wickets. And the tears won’t just be Anderson’s when he finally ends a career that has given so much to so many. The doubt, however, is whether he is currently in England’s best XI. For now, Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director of cricket Rob Key seem to think so. Theirs are the opinions that matter.Related

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When you’re an athlete operating outside the usual age-range of your chosen pursuit, the mind is your strongest tool. Where it goes, the body follows, and for now, Anderson’s bloody-mindedness is keeping him in the mix while the tips of his fingers, wrist and the swirl of those whippy arms are faltering.Nevertheless, the mind does wander … how will the end come about? It’s hard to imagine Anderson taking a page from Cook’s book when it comes to announcing his retirement. He’s hardly likely to do it in advance to set up a leaving party Test, nor will he lean on a media pal to workshop a goodbye. Then again, how funny would it be if England’s greatest cricketer bowed out via a voice note from “Mattchin Tendulkar” on the Tailenders WhatsApp group?None of that seems his vibe. Instead, one imagines it’ll be a bit like the end of English cricket will knock on his door one day and get no answer. Perhaps in the form of a central contract list dropping without his name, or simply a photo of his bowling boots strung up on a peg along with a note as he drives off into the sunset. “Sorry, I had to go see about life.”And after the initial sadness passes, the gratitude for what he brought, the scale of what he achieved and the pride that he was English will live on forever. For now, so long as English cricket keeps knocking, Anderson will continue to answer.

The crowd, rooted in logic, lived every moment of the India vs New Zealand semi-final

Yash Jha15-Nov-20232:35

Is Shami India’s greatest ODI bowler of all time?

Overheard while walking into the Wankhede on Wednesday: ” [Trent] Boult spell [They need to see off Boult’s first spell, that’s it].” Also: “New Zealand [Wonder what happens every time India meet New Zealand].”They don’t have the “knowledgeable” tag attached, but the Mumbai cricket crowd, by and large, is rooted in logic. So the nerves, while a bit relaxed after India won the toss and took first strike, are in evidence as the first semi-final kicks off. It takes one ball for them to ease – Rohit Sharma’s flick has got the scoreboard, the day, and the crowd ticking.But they have been here before. Two weeks ago, Rohit had started India’s game against Sri Lanka with a first-ball four, only to see his off stump knocked back next ball by Dilshan Madushanka. It had hushed the Wankhede.Related

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None of that today, though. Rohit defends the next two, and then crashes fours off the next two, and we have lift off. The Wankhede is roaring in relief.Third ball of Boult’s next, they are soaring as Rohit delivers the first six of the day. There are many more to come – 19 in India’s innings alone, their joint-most in an ODI – but the collective “shot!” isn’t to be bettered.The voice doesn’t drop for the first eight overs, as the man who became a cricketer in these parts puts India on course for a ten-over total that is second only to one in the history of men’s ODI World Cup knockout games.They are hushed for the first time when Kane Williamson clings on to a skier – not too dissimilar to his grab to end Ravindra Jadeja’s act in the 2019 semi-final – and the silence is truly stunning, for it stays long enough for the fresh roar and crescendo accompanies India’s No. 3 walking out to the middle. Virat Kohli has walked nearly halfway to the pitch when normal service resumes. Come to think of it, that’s as fitting a tribute as the Wankhede could give to Rohit’s effort.Rohit Sharma gives Trent Boult the charge early in the script•Getty ImagesShubman Gill unfurls his range of strokes to keep Wankhede going, even as Kohli eases himself in. The crowd has some colourful chants in them – more to do with the personal than the professional – but they all sink as Gill has to leave the stage prematurely to cramps.Shreyas Iyer takes off from where he had left in Bengaluru three days back, as indeed out here two weeks ago, and Wankhede swells in pride to the newest Mumbai boy doing it at the highest level. But Iyer’s time will have to wait…The “Kohli, Kohli” chants begin when he’s on 49, and of course there’s a huge roar when he gets to fifty. It’s his first in ODI World Cup knockouts, but that’s not the 50 they are here to see. And so, even though Iyer races to a 35-ball half-century himself, he has to make do with (relatively) quieter adulation, for Kohli is now within touching distance of that second 50.And… at 5.08pm local time, with the Sachin Tendulkar Stand in front of him as he played the shot that would put him on uncharted ground, with the statue in the background by the time he has completed the run, and the man himself sitting in front of him as he hits the ground in celebration, Kohli gets to #50.Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer rolled with the good times in their 163-run stand•AFP/Getty ImagesHe has spoken in the past of how the Wankhede going silent when Tendulkar fell in the 2011 final made him nervous, and that he felt like no one expected anything from him. Then. Here he is now, ten years to the day Tendulkar batted for the last time for India, at the same cauldron, with all of Wankhede having expected – nay, demanded. And he has delivered. They erupt. As one.World record witnessed, the crowd goes back to lapping up the son of the soil as Iyer notches up a 67-ball hundred. For him, they have got the chant that India’s head coach might not approve of: ” Pepsi, Iyer sexy”! (Don’t bother translating!)They enjoy the death overs as India pile up the highest total in a men’s ODI World Cup knockout game – even counting down to Tim Southee’s ignominious century with almost as much glee as Iyer’s a few minutes earlier.With India’s new-ball bowlers for once not striking early, the Wankhede is quieter than usual. But the introduction of Mohammed Shami is met with eager anticipation. “Shami , Shami [Shami’s here],” they go – and when he delivers first ball, they explode into “Shami, Shami”.Mohammed Shami, the first Indian to pick a seven-for in a World Cup game, poses with his loot•ICC via Getty ImagesWhile Shami’s first double-strike of the night wakes them up, his second double lifts them after a tense passage where Williamson and Daryl Mitchell are bringing New Zealand back in the chase. India’s leading wicket-taker of the tournament has the Wankhede properly buzzing.There are moments through the finish. The most common refrain: “Everybody, back to original seats!” Also, “Let’s wrap it up guys, let’s wrap it up!” There’s not much sympathy for Mitchell when he cramps up on 104: “Maxwell [you’re not going to do a Maxwell]!”It’s fitting that the second act concludes with another milestone to add – the first seven-wicket haul in the history of men’s World Cup knockouts – from the man they’ve been screaming for the loudest through the innings.They got it all: a high-scoring World Cup semi-final, with their team winning, and a world record plus two World Cup records to boot. Twelve years ago, this was where India ended a 28-year wait; this time, we witnessed what India had been searching for, for over eight years – victory in a men’s World Cup knockout, in any format. And that, they’ll probably shout from the rooftops for years to come, makes this a Wednesday to remember for the Wankhede.

The PSL has gone from being the second-biggest T20 league in the world to the third-biggest in February in the span of 14 months

Danyal Rasool16-Feb-2024On a hazy Wednesday morning at Lahore’s Jilani Park, the PSL unveiled its trophy for the ninth season. The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi met each of the six captains as well as the franchise owners. Perhaps there wasn’t a set dress code, but it could perhaps best be described as mysterious-casual: Shan Masood, Babar Azam and Shadab Khan wore their team jerseys; Shaheen Shah Afridi showed up in a Lahore Qalandars hoodie; Mohammad Rizwan was dressed all right, while Sarfaraz Ahmed arguably presented as the sharpest of all, but there was no sign of the Quetta Gladiators logo on him. The Qalandars team owner Sameen Rana, in a tracksuit, seemed to have broken off a morning run to hand over the trophy to Naqvi.It was far removed from the glitz and glamour of earlier years. The high-water mark for such ostentatious opulence was in 2017, when then-chairman Najam Sethi oversaw a similar event, which was, in truth, a gemstone craftsmanship convention disguised as a cricketing occasion. It included vivid descriptions of the 50,000 double-pointed Swarovski crystals that adorned the “Spirit Trophy”. According to the PCB website, it took “its inspiration from the brilliance of the universe”.Maybe the most appropriate way to unveil a trophy lies somewhere in the middle of these two, but if 2017 encapsulates the heady optimism Pakistan felt about the PSL at the time, 2024 reveals the eventual direction of travel. The PSL’s early seasons managed to bottle the hope and excitement a newer, fresher audience felt about Pakistani cricket. The biggest names in T20 cricket, from Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kevin Pietersen to Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine and AB de Villiers, regularly featured. Every year, the tournament took another significant step towards helping end Pakistan’s long drought of hosting cricket in the country, with the atmosphere the 2017 final in Lahore generated among the most electric in recent memory.Related

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As the BBL lost some of its sheen in those years, the PSL unofficially began to brand itself as the second-biggest T20 league behind the IPL. And on a number of metrics, it was hard to argue. As the league returned to Pakistan in its totality, it regularly packed out stadia, particularly for evening games. Team loyalties and fan engagement was organically passionate in a way few leagues could rival. The frequent dominance of ball over bat – from 2016 to 2019, no league had fewer runs per match – meant it provided a product that was different to the run fests such leagues often throw up.A cursory glance at the overseas participants this year, however, offers a sobering reminder that progress is not always linear, and the PSL’s growth cannot be taken for granted.The platinum overseas category picks this year were Jordan Cox, Daniel Sams, Kieron Pollard (well out of his prime), Rassie van der Dussen, David Willey, Noor Ahmad and Sherfane Rutherford. Noor has already withdrawn from the tournament, and the absentee list that balloons daily, with Rashid Khan, Reece Topley, Lungi Ngidi, Jamie Overton and Tim Seifert all unavailable, while van der Dussen and Tabraiz Shamsi are among those partially present. It is not exactly a list brimming with the sort of quality you’d expect at the second-biggest cricket league.The dysfunction at the board level has not helped. Since the start of 2021, there have been three PSL seasons and five PCB chairmen. There was an ill-fated dalliance with the Pakistan Junior League and the PCB flirted with the idea of a women’s league without ever seriously drawing up plans for it, eventually throwing together three women’s exhibition matches and then scrapping it altogether.But several factors outside the PCB’s control also make this a particularly precarious moment for the PSL. The general elections held on February 8 in a bitter political atmosphere captivated the attention of most Pakistanis, as well as the media platforms which would normally have pivoted fully from politics to cricket by now. The PSL has, by contrast, slipped under the radar with almost negligible mainstream media coverage as the fallout from the elections continues with no discernible end in sight.The ILT20, as well as the SA20, has become more important than the PSL in the early-year window•ILT20However, the PSL has greater problems than unfortunate timing. When the league was inaugurated in 2016, the February-March window the tournament has normally occupied was wide open in a calendar that was still relatively uncluttered. Players could use the event as a tune-up ahead of the IPL in April, while those not part of the IPL could push their cases for the T20 Blast and the CPL further down the line. Hosting the tournament in the UAE allowed the PCB to soft-launch the concept with those who would inevitably take coaxing to come to Pakistan, and when the switch was eventually made, the reception was (James Faulkner notwithstanding) universally positive.But the recent emergence of two leagues, the SA20 and the ILT20, has pushed the PSL into something of a corner. The owners of those teams range from IPL owners to Adani and Glazer, with the PSL’s financial abilities paling in comparison. It has resulted in the late winter window becoming among the busiest of the year, hemming the PSL into an ever-tighter sliver of the calendar from mid-February to mid-March.This has deprived the tournament of the flexibility it was able to deploy as recently as 2022, when it began in late January to accommodate a home series against Australia. This year, the PCB had originally designated the PSL’s window to begin on February 8, but with the ILT20 running till February 17, sought to minimise a clash by announcing that as its starting date.This forced the tournament to run until March 18, well into the month of Ramzan, when religious rituals prohibiting food and drink from sunrise to sunset make it a less desirable window for players and match-going fans alike. The month is determined by the lunar calendar and starts about 11 days earlier each year, which means for at least the next half decade it clashes directly with part or all of the PSL’s current slot. Initially, the PCB had assumed moving the tournament into January was the obvious solution, but the current scenario suggests a three-way tie with those two leagues looms large.Scheduling inconveniences aside, the advent of those leagues means players have much greater choice in where they wish to ply their trade during this time. The SA20 and the ILT20’s highest salary bands are significantly higher than the PSL’s and both South Africa and the UAE remain more attractive destinations than Pakistan. Despite improvements in Pakistan’s safety concerns, player movements still require security to pull out all the stops, and a relatively less permissive social culture makes it difficult for Pakistan to compete with those two countries on non-cricketing factors too. For the best players, the PSL becomes an easier league to skip if they have an SA20 or ILT20 contract before it, and/or an IPL deal to follow.The PSL had all the glitz it needed, till it was squeezed into a window of relative insignificance by newer, fresher leagues•PCBSimply put, the PSL has gone from being the second-biggest T20 league in the world to the third-biggest in February in the span of 14 months.The consequence of the IPL immediately following the tournament is that players are likelier to err on the side of caution when it comes to making themselves available for the PSL. Topley was pulled out of the tournament by his board because of a slight niggle sustained in the SA20, with the player eager to play in the IPL and the board keen to ensure he remains fit for the T20 World Cup that follows. Rashid decided to skip the PSL as he nurses a back injury with a view to ensure he can play the IPL.If the PCB saw these problems coming, there isn’t yet a sign of how they planned to deal with them. Naqvi, in fairness, is barely a week into his job, though it’s worth remembering that he also currently holds the position of caretaker chief minister of the Punjab province, a side gig that puts him in charge of governing 120 million people.The financial realities are hard enough to contend with for a cricket board that is willing and able to confront them, and the PCB has of late shown no signs that it is serious on either front. The PSL appears to have drifted into turbulence without a captain at the helm, and as the high winds buffet it from either side, all it can do for now is ride out the waves.And suddenly, the PSL captains’ sartorial choices don’t seem like much of a problem after all.