Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is looking to get the government's approval regarding 30% crowd attendance during the matches of the upcoming sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The sixth edition of the glitzy PSL will start on the 20th of February in Karachi and will conclude on the 22nd of March in Lahore. The entire tournament will be played across these two venues only.

However, there is no final decision made on the matter as of now and the PCB has stated that they will take the final call on this matter prior to the tournament.

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) have been formally approached by the cricket body amidst the conditions of a stable brook of new coronavirus cases in the country.

“Even if permission is granted to us we have to set-up a safe and secure system which will ensure that the limited number of people who come to the stadiums are safe and also they follow all the Covid-19 protocols,” a PCB official was quoted as saying by PTI [Press Trust of India].

There are more than 35,000 active covid-19 infections in Pakistan with more than one thousand cases testing positive on a daily basis. Compared to neighboring countries such as India, the death toll in Pakistan has been comparatively lower as a total of close to 11,000 people have lost their lives to date.

The previous edition of the PSL was entirely played in Pakistan however; the playoffs were postponed until November 2020 because of the pandemic. The playoffs were later played with fans in the stadium in November with Karachi Kings lifting the trophy at their home.

Since then, almost all cricketing activities in the country went without crowds in the stadiums and the PCB is now looking to avoid the massive financial impact by ramping its efforts to get the approval of allowing 30% of people in the crowd.