'Fans, players and supporters breath cricket' - Liam Livingstone draws out similarities between IPL and PSL

Cricket in Pakistan has suffered a lot due to security concerns. Over the years, Pakistani fans have been devoid of any cricketing action due to the aforementioned reason. However, the organization of the fifth edition of Pakistan Super League served as a breath of fresh air for the whole nation. This was the first instance when the tournament was scheduled completely in Pakistan.

Furthermore, national teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also accepted to tour Pakistan after the request made by PCB. Pakistani fans were delighted after seeing the improvement of cricketing scenario in the nation. However, the coronavirus outbreak emerged as a roadblock for all the cricketing action and the PSL 2020 was called off before the semi-finals due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Liam Livingstone, who was a part of Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2020, has drawn out comparisons between PSL and IPL. Since the inception of PSL, there have been many comparisons between it and the Indian Premier League (IPL). Fans in both countries come out in huge numbers to fill up stadiums in every cricket match. Hence, the enthusiasm of fans is at its peak in both the neighbouring countries.

Liam Livingstone describes his experience of playing in PSL

“The fans, players and supporters all live and breathe cricket, that’s what sets the PSL and IPL apart from the others,” Livingstone was quoted as saying in the Doosra podcast for BBC.

The English batsman also opened up about his experience in the PSL. He said that it was a great experience for him to play in places he hadn’t seen before. Livingstone termed his experience of playing in Multan as ‘unbelievable’ due to the number of supporters during matches.

“It was great to play in places that hadn’t seen live cricket for a while, such as Multan, where the atmosphere was unbelievable,” he added.

“I think the stadium holds around 30,000 but I’m adamant there were about 50,000 there. They cheer for anything and don’t support any particular team,” he further said.