'Hopefully, we can become the first Asian board' - Ramiz Raja reveals his plans for Women's PSL

Since taking over as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ramiz Raja has taken some steps which seem to have been working well for the men’s national team. In the darkest hour of Pakistan cricket, when two big profile nations like England and New Zealand pulled out from their tours to the country, Ramiz Raja and Babar Azam’s team have sort of revived themselves at the T20 World Cup 2021. 

Post this mini-success, Raja came out and spoke to the fans through a video on the PCB’s official social media handles. In that video, Raja shared his vision for the upcoming months and also talked about things that the board is planning to do. He revealed in the video that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Tom Harrison has been in talks with him. 

It was reported that Harrison had plans to visit Raja and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in order to fix their relations which was sort of taken a hit when England pulled out of their tour to Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup. Raja announced that PCB has plans to finalize a date for England’s tour of Pakistan soon. 

We will launch something like a PSL for Under-19 level cricket: Ramiz Raja

While talking about this, he also stated that there are plans to develop a tournament similar to PSL but for the U19 level cricket. “In October, hopefully, we will launch something like a PSL for Under-19 level cricket. We are very excited because this has not happened anywhere in the world. England will send their Under-19 players, we will look after them. We will create a new property,” Raja said in the video. 

ٹام ہیریسن کا پاکستان آنا خوش آئند ہے، چیئرمین پی سی بی رمیز راجہ کی مستقبل کے منصوبوں پر گفتگو pic.twitter.com/mtJgNN1OZ8

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 9, 2021

Talking further, he also stated that a women’s edition for Pakistan Super League is also on his mind. Interestingly, he remarked that they want to become the first board in Asia to launch it. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also shown interest in a women’s T20 franchise league, but there hasn’t been any official announcement regarding its launch. 

“Women’s PSL is also on my mind. Hopefully, we can become the first cricket board in Asia to launch it (a women’s T20 franchise league). England and Australia tours are massive breakthroughs, and I expect our side to perform well. I want us to be a proud nation and our fans, our team, and the board to be respected,” Raja said.