Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed has created a stir on social media as he said that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is the most interesting league in the world, compared to its Indian counterpart, the Indian Premier League (IPL). Javed mentioned that the nature of pitches is the main reason as in India there are just flat surfaces.

“This [PSL] is the most interesting league in the world, if there are no interruptions due to Covid-19 or anything else, because of the nature of the pitches. For instance, Lahore’s pitch has some support for the bowlers, whereas you see higher scores in Karachi,” Javed was quoted as saying by Samaa TV, speaking to PTV Sports.

“On the other hand. If you look at IPL, there is only one type of cricket being played there due to extremely flat surfaces and low-quality bowling,” the 49-year old further said.

The former fast bowler’s quotes were shared on Twitter by a Pakistani journalist and it met with criticism from the Indian fans.

Many players around the world have in the past labelled IPL as the best T20 tournament in the world because of the quality of cricket and most of the players around the world want to take part in the competition to gain experience which helps them better their game. Not just India, several foreign cricketers from across the world have played for their country after performing well in the IPL.

Javed, who is the head coach of the PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars, is gearing up for the seventh edition of the PSL and will be hoping to get hands on their maiden trophy. The Qalandars retained most of their key players in Shaheen Afridi, Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, David Wiese and Mohammad Hafeez before the draft and signed some promising youngsters from Pakistan and overseas. 

Wicket-keeper batsman Phil Salt, Harry Brook, veteran English all-rounder Samit Patel were all drafted by the Qalandars ahead of the 2022 edition.