PSL franchise owners do their own 'show of hands' on the sidelines of the draft

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been gaining some momentum in terms of popularity ever since the majority of the tournament was held in Pakistan itself. Teams and players are more open to traveling to the country ever since Sri Lanka tour and this might result in the first PSL which will be completely held in the nation itself.

The season 5 of the tournament kicked off with the players’ draft which took place at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The franchise owners had previously decided to take up a unique way of deciding who gets the chance to pick the first player in the drafts. This is a huge advantage to the team owners, as they can pick the best player first and this time the PSL franchises got creative with the same.

Pugam Pugai on sidelines of the PSL Draft

Earlier it was reported that the first pick in the draft of PSL season 5 will be decided via ‘Pugam’ [Show of Hands]. All franchises’ representatives will gather either at Minar-e-Pakistan or Gaddafi Stadium Lahore to do ‘Pugam’. This was certainly a unique way to see which team owner had a huge advantage. This was an out of the box idea for the fans to see, as it was nostalgic given that similar things happened in gully cricket.

However, the PCB decided to go another nostalgic route to decide who got the first pick in the draft and instead wrote numbers 1-6 in mud and hid it with a bat, letting the owners put their flags on intended marks and whichever drew no.1 would get the first pick. This was an old way of choosing which player batted first in gully cricket.

But the franchise owners didn’t let their respective fans down and fulfilled their promise of doing pugam pugai or show of hands in order to have some fun on the sidelines of the draft in Lahore. The draft will happen in mid-November, while the fifth edition of PSL will start from February 20, 2020, and will end on March 22. Reportedly, the entire edition will be played on Pakistani soil.

Here is the video of franchise owners playing Pugam Pugai:

We had gone there prepared for #PuganPugai which didn’t happen. We did it on the side anyways. See who won! 😆#PSLInPakistan #UnitedWeWin #HBLPSL #Season5 @thePSLt20 pic.twitter.com/yguQuM3S5a

— Ali Naqvi (@AliNaqvi808) November 3, 2019