Middle East conflict, border tensions with Afghanistan: PCB plays down fears ahead of PSL

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said there are no issues with overseas players travelling for the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL), even as concerns were raised due to the situation in the Gulf region. The tournament is scheduled to begin on March 26 and is set to include several foreign players, including those from Australia.The 11th edition of the PSL will bring together domestic and international players, with preparations underway as per schedule.A PCB source, while talking to news agency PTI, dismissed reports suggesting hesitation among Australian cricketers over travelling to Pakistan due to tensions in the Middle East and along the Afghanistan border."All travel arrangements and plans are in place and we will have all the Australian players who have signed for the PSL 11 start arriving from next week," the source said, as cited by PTI. Recent reportshave claimed that the Australian government advised its players against travelling to Peshawar, where one PSL match is scheduled, citing its location near the Afghanistan border.Several Australian players are part of this year’s PSL, including Steve Smith, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle, Aaron Hardie, Marnus Labuschagne, Ashton Turner, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Philippe, Riley Meredith and Ben McDermott.This season, the PSL will expand to eight teams for the first time. It will also overlap with the Indian Premier League for the second year in a row, with the IPL starting three days after the PSL begins.