Pakistan Super League removes Indian production partners IMG-Reliance ahead of PSL 2020

The upcoming fifth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2020) will be played between February 20 and March 22. With less than a month to go for the commencement of PSL 2020, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently announced a consortium with Pakistan's Tower Sports and Singapore's SportzWorkz as the tournament’s production partners. Earlier, the PCB blacklisted IMG-Reliance as their production partners after the latter pulled out of their deal during last year’s tournament. It is worth to be noted that IMG-Reliance had served in a similar capacity until 2018 in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The BCCI had pulled the plug on their audio-visual rights deal, which lasted for 10 years.

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PSL 2020: PCB removes Indian production partners IMG Reliance

According to the PCB, the board had sent a legal notice to IMG Reliance on October 21 last year. However, the PCB received no reply, prompting them to take the matter into the court. It was believed that IMG Reliance pulled out of their deal because of the heightened political tensions between India and Pakistan that boiled due to a terrorist attack on 44 Indian paramilitary troopers on February 14, 2020 in Pulwama.

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As per their new deal with Tower Sports and SportzWorkz, the two companies will not only oversee production work but will also train Pakistan’s cameraman and technical crew. While speaking with the reporters, PSL Project Executive Shoaib Naveed said that the PCB is excited to have such “experienced personnel” on board.

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PSL 2020

Meanwhile, the PSL 2020 will be kicked-off with a game between Islamabad United and reigning champions Quetta Gladiators on February 20. The match will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi. A total of 34 matches will be played across 4 venues with the final scheduled at Lahore on March 22.

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