Sindh Premier League (Sindhi: سنڌ پريميئر ليگ; Urdu: سندھ پریمیئر لیگ; abbreviated as SPL) is a professional Twenty20 league contested by six teams representing six cities of Sindhprovince. It was launched in 2023.[1][2][3]
History
Establishment
In June 2022, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, the provincial minister of local government in an effort to promote and develop[4][5]cricket in Sindh,[5] announced that there would be a domestic cricket team for Sindh soon inspired by the Kashmiri counterpart.[6] and soon in March of the next year, a launching ceremony was held in auditorium of Sindh Assembly and the guests included Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq. The first season of the league will be played in Karachi.[7] In the same month of march the league was officially launched and finalized, The launch ceremony was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Sindh[8] in Karachi[9] and attended by dignitaries from professions, including the provincial ministers Sharjeel Inam Memon and Saeed Ghani, Advisor Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab, and former captain of Pakistan cricket team Sarfraz Ahmed and various others.[10] Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi announced to be its first brand ambassador.[8]
The league is said to commence from September 19 of 2023.[11][12][13]
Teams
There were originally seven teams consisting the league.
The league is set to be broadcast on its official YouTube channel.[8]
Criticism
The league came under severe criticism for not having sufficient presence of Sindhi players. Several journalists noted that the league was intended to promote Sindhi players but majority of the team squads did not have any Sindhi players. A journalist also pointed out that Mirpurkhaas Tigers did not have a single player that belonged to the city of Mirpurkhaas.[8]