Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi said that he will bring international players of his franchise to play in Peshawar. He shared the video of the under-construction Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.
Javed Afridi decided to boycott the player’s draft ceremony for the next season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He reportedly boycotted the event of the draft ceremony in protest to the remarks of PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja.
“We can’t bring Western teams to Peshawar right now,” the PCB chief had told Sky Sports in a recent interview.
The 35,000 seater Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar, which was nearly built 30 years ago, is under renovation for the past four years. The stadium hopes to host international matches hence is under construction to meet global standards.
In the interview, Ramiz Raja said that the board members of other countries are reluctant to send their players to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa- being close to Afghanistan, the province is more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
BEING A SON OF THIS SOIL, I PROMISE THE PEOPLE OF PESHAWAR & KP THAT WE WILL BRING ALL OUR FOREIGN PLAYERS TO PLAY IN ARBAB NIAZ CRICKET STADIUM. pic.twitter.com/McWO8YPBGZ
— Javed Afridi (@JAfridi10) December 16, 2022
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“Foreign players are not allowed to travel to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan by their countries. They are asked to stay cautious,” he told the media.
Raja lamented that “PCB doesn’t have its stadium. We have to take a lease from the local government every time,” he stressed.
“We did development work in Faisalabad Stadium which was later given to a political party for their public gathering [Jalsa]. We planned to host the Bangladesh U19 team in Faisalabad but it wasn’t possible due to the poor state of the ground after political gathering,” he disclosed. PCB has signed a legal contract with Multan’s local government to occupy Multan Cricket Stadium.
Meanwhile, his statements on Peshawar garnered criticism on social media from cricket fans. Ramiz Raja says that PCB is planning to expand PSL to Multan, Peshawar, and Quetta next year.