PSL has inflicted severe damage on IPL: Tauseef Ahmed

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selection committee member Tauseef Ahmed has insisted that Pakistan Super League (PSL), despite its young age, has inflicted severe damage on the glitzy cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

Tauseef further said that it was because of PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and PSL chief Najam Sethi that their country's league has emerged as a major threat to India's lucrative T20 tournament.

"A country (India) has been organising such a league for six or seven years, but we have only staged it twice and results are there for all to see. Our PSL has, in my opinion, inflicted severe damage on their league, and the credit goes to everyone including both Najam Sethi and Shaharyar Khan," the Express Tribune quoted Tauseef as saying.

The former Test cricketer further pointed out that just two seasons of PSL has replenished Pakistan's talent pool, which is the reason behind the league's success.

Earlier, players like Shadab Khan and Usman Khan Shinwari were identified through the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

"The PSL gave us new talent such as Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Asghar before and now Shadab Khan. These players have already played under so much pressure in PSL that the stress of international cricket doesn't overwhelm them," Tauseef said.

While admitting that the Pakistan cricket has been severely damaged in past few years, Tauseef called on his cricket fraternity to work together and help country rise above the past controversies.

"As a cricketer and as a Pakistani, I can say that these last seven, eight years have been incredibly difficult. Our cricket has been damaged and everyone knows who was behind it. Now, it's our job to rebuild it," he concluded.

The PSL seemed to have achieved greater success than any other T20 league in the world, especially because of the unique challenges it faced, from not taking place in the home country to a clash with the Masters Champions League in its opening season.

While the PSL was something of an unknown quantity in its inaugral season, it received much more success in the second edition after the finals of the tournament was held in Lahore in a jam-packed Gaddafi Stadium.