‘We owe it to Jay Shah’: UAE official reveals BCCI’s role as ECB backs out of hosting PSL
Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) created an embarrassing situation for Pakistan by refusing to hold 8 PSL matches in the country, despite an official announcement by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Notably, the PCB had announced earlier this week that it would move the last few matches of the PSL to the UAE amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, but the rejection by the Emirates board later made Pakistan postpone its 20-over league.While it was speculated that quiet Indian diplomacy might be at play to get the UAE to change course on its decision to host the PSL, a new report has revealed the role of the BCCI and Jay Shah (former BCCI secretary and current ICC chairman).As per Cricbuzz, Jay Shah's standing in international cricket and his ties with UAE's leadership played a significant role in ECB reversing its decision to hold the PSL. Reportedly, the relations between BCCI and ECB have remained cordial with the Indian board under Shah conducting 1 and half IPL seasons in UAE and also organizing the T20 World Cup 2021 in the country. Moreover, ECB's current secretary general, Mubashir Usmani, is also originally an Indian from Mumbai.An ECB official while revealing the role of BCCI and Jay Shah in the matter said (as quoted by Cricbuzz), “We owe it to the BCCI and Jay Bhai,”Foreign players scared after PSL's cancellation: Meanwhile, Bangladesh leg spinner Rishad Hossain recently showed his relief at safely reaching UAE afer the postponement of PSL. He also revealed that many foreign players like Daryl Mitchell and Sam billings were frightened by the situation in Pakistan."Foreign players like Sam Billings, Daryl Mitchell, Kushal Perera, David Wiese, Tom Curran... all of them were so frightened... Landing in Dubai, Mitchell told me that he would never go to Pakistan again, especially in this kind of scenario. Overall, they all were horrified," Hossain was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying.
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