Expectations were high as the fifth edition of Pakistan’s much-anticipated cricket tournament — Pakistan Super League (PSL) — kicked off last night amidst much fanfare. However, as soon as the ceremony began, hopes of a dazzling inaugural show went down the drain as there were so many glitches from the get-go. From the host to the performances and team introductions, the event was full of blunders and we can’t seem to fathom why?
Tall claims were made prior to the show that as many as 350 artists will be performing, however, there seemed to be not a single live performance as every singer literally lip-synced on the stage. This comes as a shock when you get to know that PCB spent a rough estimate of 210 million on this opening ceremony. In case you missed the big night and cannot decipher why Twitteratis are fumed, here’s a short version of what went completely wrong in the opening ceremony, along with some funny Twitter reactions.
1. Why hire an Indian event manager?
Oh yes, you haven’t misread this; PCB hired an Indian director, Shubhra Bhradwaj, to organize the PSL 2020’s opening ceremony in Karachi. Can you think of one good reason for doing so? Competency and management skills cannot be the reason as clearly the evening was a mess! Without undermining someone’s hard work, this is clearly a bad decision considering a Pakistani event manager would know better about local dynamics rather than an outsider. This also shows the double standards of our institutions where on one hand we ban Indian content and on the other hand, we hire their event directors.
An Indian director Shubhra Bhardwaj was paid a fortune by @TheRealPCB for the opening ceremony of #HBLPSL in #Karachi today. We have local ppl to do better stuff than what has been put up. And then you want ur Pakistani talent to stop dying due to lack of work. pic.twitter.com/w33PMM7i2d
— Furqan T. Siddiqui (@furqantsiddiqui) February 20, 2020
To PCB after watching #PSL Ceremony pic.twitter.com/zFccULM2O7
— á´Ê€ ᴛᴇᴇ ʙᴇᴇ ᴇᴇ 80 (@alfake_) February 20, 2020
2. Who selected these hosts?
Anyone would have been a better choice than Fakhr-e-Alam. The guy could prove to be a good commentator but as the host of the evening, he failed to do a good job. If that wasn’t enough, some dude named VJ Godil was the final nail in the coffin. The guy has been massively trolled on social media and though we don’t support trolling, we saw it coming.
10 minutes into PSL and we already have our first meme material.#PSL5ComesPakistan pic.twitter.com/WSLv8gC6CX
— Dilawar Sattar Rind (@DILAWARRIND7) February 20, 2020
Read: Celebrities & PSL 2020: Who is rooting for which team?
3. What happened to the performances?
We saw performances of Sanam Marvi, Soch The band, Sajjad Ali, Aima Baig, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Abrar ul Haq, Haroon, Asim Azhar, Arif Lohar, Ali Azmat and many more but is it just to call them performances? They felt like 2-minutes short clips like movie teasers, the lighting was haywire and none of the songs set the stage on fire or established any connection with the spectators. Can you imagine, even the 3-minutes PSL anthem was cut short to a 60-seconds clip. Here it from Ali Azmat himself:
What a bloody fiasco the PSL opening ceremony was – from one of the musicians who was part of it! pic.twitter.com/AMfgCHRk1R
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) February 21, 2020
Coke studio k bech main thori thori PSL Ceremony ho rahi hai
— Sheikhspeare 🇵🇰 (@SheikhspearePk) February 20, 2020
What you order vs when it arrives#PSL2020 #PSLV #PSL pic.twitter.com/NV7EUh6Hxh
— Elite Martial (@EliteMartial2) February 20, 2020
4. Who wrote the script?
That’s not all even the trophy unveiling was a spectacle (not in a positive way, of course!). While Fakhr-e-Alam was introducing a different team owner, the camera was constantly focusing on the owner of Multan Sultans. The guy kept waving at the host that it’s not him but to no avail!
Fans be like:
Every Pakistani right now: #PSL5 pic.twitter.com/0KYgqeg9RA
— Farrukh Shahzad Chauhan (@FarrukhFL) February 20, 2020
Watching #PSL opening ceremony 👇 pic.twitter.com/0KBNwkh7hd
— Aqsa Fatima👑 (@ThisIsAqsaa) February 20, 2020
5. Was it the true representation of Pakistani culture?
Undoubtedly, Pakistanis are cricket enthusiasts but why are we stuck in the era of the horse and cattle show whenever we have to represent our culture. We surely have more ways to represent a softer image of Pakistan in a contemporary style. It’s 2020 and we can’t seem to devise a way to show Pakistanis as a sports loving nation who know how to have fun!
Missing this kind of exciting stuff !#PSL2020 #PSL5 pic.twitter.com/FctGNMjkK3
— Ifra Saeed🇵🇰 (@_Ifralicious) February 20, 2020
It is quite understandable that it is highly unlikely to organize an event of this magnitude without any errors, especially if the entertainment scene has been stagnant in the country for over a decade. However, some technical and managerial issues were too hard to ignore. We certainly hope to see a better finale in Lahore, fingers crossed!
