Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi called the recently concluded Pakistan Super League 2023 (PSL 8) a huge success and compared some of its numbers with that of the rival Indian Premier League (IPL).

Lahore Qalandars successfully defended their PSL title, as they defeated Multan Sultans by one run in the final. Lahore posted 200/6 in 20 overs, courtesy of a half-century by Abdullah Shafique and an unbeaten knock of 44 runs off 15 balls by skipper Shaheen Afridi. Usama Mir bagged three wickets for Multan.

In reply, the Sultans were restricted to 199/8 in 20 overs, despite a half-century by Rilee Rossouw. Shaheen shined with the ball as well, picking 4 wickets, while Rashid took two.

The nail-biting final saw cricket fans in Pakistan and around the world sticking to TV sets and online mediums to catch every ball of the match. Thanks to this, PCB chief Najam Sethi made a stunning statement that PSL has overtaken IPL in terms of digital viewership.

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Speaking in a press conference ahead of the final, Sethi said, "Let’s talk about digital. PSL was only at the halfway stage, so I asked about our digital rating. 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 it completes.

Over 150 million people watched it digitally. It 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.”

Here is the video:

On the other hand, the IPL 2023 starts on March 31 with the blockbuster tie between Chennai Super Kings and defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.