PCB announces star-studded commentary panel for PSL

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday announced a star-studded commentary panel for the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), starting February 13.

In a press release, the cricket board said a “strong field” of 15 commentators and two presenters had been confirmed to cover the series.

The panel of English commentators includes Alan Wilkins, Bazid Khan, Danny Morrison, Daren Ganga, Dominic Cork, Mark Butcher, Nick Knight, Sana Mir, Sikandar Bakht, Simon Doull, Urooj Mumtaz, Vernon Philander and Waqar Younis. Whereas, Marina Iqbal and Tariq Saeed will commentate in Urdu.

Moreover, fan-favourite Erin Holland and Zainab Abbas have been roped in as presenters.

The PCB also announced the match officials and referees for the 34-match tournament.

Three members of the ICC’s elite panel of umpires – Aleem Dar, Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough – will be accompanied by Ahsan Raza, Asif Yaqoob, Rashid Riaz, Faisal Khan Afridi, Martin Saggers, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Alex Wharf and Shozab Raza. They will be supported by Muhammad Asif, Nasir Hussain, and Tariq Rasheed, who will be involved in the fourth umpire’s role.

Roshan Mahanama, a former member of the ICC’s elite panel of match referees, will return for the eighth successive year and will lead a team of five match referees with other members being Ali Naqvi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Javed Malik and Muhammad Anees.

Wharf, who played 13 ODIs for England, and Saggers, who featured in three Tests for England, will make their PSL debuts along with Sri Lanka’s Palliyaguruge. The three are members of the ICC’s international panel of umpires.

The PSL 8 will be played across four venues from February 13 to March 19. The Multan and Karachi-leg matches will be held from February 13-26, before action shifts to Lahore and Rawalpindi where 20 matches will be played from February 26 to March 19.