The Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 8 draft was held on Thursday, with plenty of star names from across the border and around the world going under the hammer. However, it turned out that lights and microphones were malfunctioning during the event due to a production glitch.
Fans from Pakistan and people from across the border in India noticed the production disruption and mocked Pakistan’s Cricket Board (PCB) chief, Ramiz Raja, for the unfortunate turn of events.
As the lights returned and the draft resumed, as usual, fans decided to troll Raja as they compared the PSL8 draft to that of the Indian T20 League auctions while some others trolled the PCB chief using the Rawalpindi field that the Cricket Council Body recently rated as ‘substandard’.
Babar Azam is set to play for Peshawar Zalmi
The players' draft for the 2023 edition of the Pakistan Super League took place on Thursday, December 15, in Karachi. Over 500 players took part in the draft. Teams had to pick from the Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, Emerging, and Supplementary categories. Franchises also made judicious use of the right-to-match cards. Quetta Gladiators used the RTM and took back Naseem Shah from Multan Sultans.
Abrar Ahmed, who picked up 11 wickets on his Test debut against England, is set to ply his trade for Islamabad United. The likes of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, David Miller, Sikandar Raza, Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, Imran Tahir, and a number of big names are set to take part in the T20 league.
Babar Azam is set to play for Peshawar Zalmi and has replaced Wahab Riaz as their skipper. Imad Wasim, who captained Karachi Kings to victory in 2020, is back as their captain as Babar made a move to Zalmi. Sri Lanka’s 2022 Asia Cup winning duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Bhanuka Rajapaksa will make their PSL debuts, along with England and Australia’s 20-20 Men’s World Cup winners Adil Rashid and Matthew Wade, respectively.
Here’s how people reacted to the incident:
PSL draft mein china ki lights kon laya @iramizraja ?
— nomi (@nomi49) December 15, 2022
Ramiz bhai will blame producers after pitch curators now saying we are light years behind in production. Bhsdk. #PSLDRAFT
— niharilicious (@niharilicious) December 15, 2022
Bhai ye PSL ka draft ho rha ya kuch or ho rha 🤣🤣🤣.
— Ayush™ 🇮🇳🚩 (@vkkings007) December 15, 2022
No light,no mic #PSLDRAFT pic.twitter.com/Fk1Bl1jHnE
Gareebi mai aattà gila🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
— NECRO MANCER (@whiteLeopard51) December 15, 2022
Pakistan khud ko beijjat karane ka koi mauka nahi chorta hai. Ab ye light ka arrangement to kar nahi sakte aur inko kashmir chahiye😂
— Rishabh Pandey (@rishabhpost) December 15, 2022
Paisa shortage league for a reason. Justifying names.
— Gulshan 🇮🇳 🇦🇷 (@AaramJaadaa) December 15, 2022
Chinese loan not paid....so no electricity 🤣🤣🤣🤣
— NECRO MANCER (@whiteLeopard51) December 15, 2022
Jab economy ka baira ghark huwa para hay tou PSL ma bhe yahee kuch hogaa.
— Ali Raza (@aliraza_ca) December 15, 2022
Or Enko kashmir Chahiye .....!!😆😂
— Jagdish Paul ❤ (@liger______) December 15, 2022