BCCI lawyers threatened us: Iceland cricket recalls IPL name row, takes swipe at PSL

A viral post by Iceland Cricket recalling its past naming dispute with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has gone viral on social media, with the board also taking a sharp dig at the ongoing situation in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

“There was once a time when the @bcci lawyer's threatened to sue us. We made the mistake of advertising our Icelandic Premier League tournament as the IPL. We decided we could either fight back or give in. We gave in. Íslensk Premier League (ÍPL) it became. PS, once it became the ÍPL, they never emailed us again, and our franchise tournament became the world's most popular T20 franchise tournament,” Iceland Cricket posted in X.

The tongue-in-cheek post quickly went viral, with many users seeing it as a subtle dig at the dominance of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the board did not stop there and also mocked the situation surrounding the PSL, which has been hit by operational challenges in Pakistan.

Iceland Cricket branded the PSL as the “Petrol shortage league” after reports emerged that the tournament would be restricted to fewer venues due to a fuel crisis in the country.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already confirmed that the 2026 edition of the PSL will be held without spectators. The tournament, originally planned across multiple venues, has now been limited to just Lahore and Karachi.

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said the decision was taken following directions from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif amid the ongoing fuel crisis and regional tensions.

"The Prime Minister requested all of Pakistan to restrict their movements because of the fuel crisis. We closed schools and instituted work from home and increased the number of Eid holidays. We don't know how long this war will last," Naqvi said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

He added that while the league will proceed as scheduled, matches will be played behind closed doors. "Looking at all of this and after discussions with our security agencies, we decided that the PSL would continue as per the original schedule. But we can't ask people to restrict their movements and then have 30,000 people in stadiums every day. We decided that as long as this crisis is ongoing, we will not have crowds at matches. This was a difficult decision, but it needed to be made. The opening ceremony will also be cancelled. Because there are no crowds anyway, there was no reason to go to those cities. And we have to restrict our movements so resources are not wasted," he added.

The PSL is set to begin on March 26, with the final scheduled for May 3, albeit under unprecedented circumstances.