Pakistan Super League surpassed IPL in digital ratings: PCB chairman Najam Sethi – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

The eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League finished with a bang on Sunday, with Lahore Qalandars beating Multan Sultans to clinch their second title. In a dramatic repeat of the PSL 8 opener, the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led brigade managed to win the game by just one run. Following the conclusion of the tournament, the PCB chairman Najam Sethi said that PSL went past the Indian Premier League (IPL) in terms of viewership, igniting a storm on the internet.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the PSL 8 final, Sethi made some claims about the tournament’s digital viewers. “Let’s talk about digital. PSL was only at the half stage, so I asked about our digital rating. The Najam Sethi show used to have a 0.5 rating on TV, whereas PSL is getting a rating of more than 11. So, it would be 18 or 20, when the tournament ends.”

“Over 150 million people watched it (PSL) digitally, which is not a small thing. At the same stage, IPL’s digital rating was 130 million and PSL’s is more than 150 million. So this is a great success for Pakistan”, he further added.

The Indian Premier League is set to start from 31 March with Chennai Super Kings squaring off against Gujarat Giants at Ahmedabad.

Coming back to the PSL 8 final, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s Lahore Qalandars gained the upper hand from the word go. The side managed to post a target of 200 runs on the scoreboard, thanks to the top-order – Mirza Baig, Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique – performing well.

Shafique was the highest scorer for the Lahore-based franchise, with 65 runs off 40 deliveries. Afridi played a pivotal role in the innings, scoring an unbeaten 44 off1 15 deliveries.

When it was time for Multan Sultans to bat, skipper Mohammad Rizwan and Rilee Rossouw tried their best to take their side past the victory post. But they could not stand against the combined attack of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Rashid Khan and suffered a heart-breaking loss by just one run. Shaheen Afridi was declared the player of the game for his four-wicket haul and blistering knock of 44 runs.