PAK PLAYERS EXCLUDED IN IPL

January 22nd, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in Sports   Comments Off on PAK PLAYERS EXCLUDED IN IPL
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Why did IPL have to snub Pakistan cricket players is still not clear. The Government is non-committal and has a different version or is probably hiding behind the garb of visa-issue and/or something like that. The question is why were the names of Pakistan players included in the list of players to be auctioned – in the first place?

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Cricketers from Pakistan had participated in the first edition of IPL in 2008. Why not now? A sports-cum-political comedy of sorts has occured, which is becoming more interesting than the matches themselves.

” The participation or absence of Pakistani cricketers in a commercial event of the nature of IPL is, thus, a matter not within the purview of the Government”, says the government.

WOW!  Well said – buddy. Non-inclusion of players like Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir   from the cash-rich tournament  is not understood as they both are crowd pullers and watching them is within the justified demands of the spectators. Afridi burns the stadium with the wilt of his willow and Tanveer can make many a heads roll with his balls. He is the highest wicket taker in the first IPL tourney.

Let sports be above politics. IPL and 26/11 should never be clubbed together. We were waiting to see an Afridi’s sixer land on top of Gavaskar Stand, but instead we are, reluctantly, watching Modi hit the government for a six? A very high flying six that was!

As it is Indo-Pak ties are suffering from Swine-flu and Tamiflu is not working either. This was one way to invite/include them on a proper 22 yards strip to unite and make the crowds roar in jubilations of a boundary or a six.

But not including them is the most doubtful LBW decision ever given by any umpire. Neither the two umpires on the ground ( Modi and government) nor the third umpire (team owners) have any satisfactory answers, even after seeing the replay. ‘I don’t know nothing’, is what they are saying now.  By the way – who is the match referee in this scenario???

But Pakistan will now take this as an opportunity to criticize the Indian Government and and blame them for pressurizing the IPL for non-inclusion of their players in the tournament. Government of India has denied that they have put any pressure on IPL or their franchises.

Pakistani cricketers feel “hurt” and insulted after none of their 11 players fielded for the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction were picked up.

Franchises preferred West Indian, South African and Australian players while ignoring the 11 Pakistani players who were available in the auction for sale. Franchises say Pakistani players’ availability was not certain and they couldn’t risk their money on them.
No real explanation has been given for this omission either by IPL chief Lalit Modi or the team owners. Both said the availability of the Pakistani players was in doubt and the owners said so they couldn’t risk their money on them.

The best way to be friends with neighbours is to play/eat/drink/dance  together and now Modi will have a lot to answer about this in the foreseeable future. If there were doubts about their availability then why were they included in the bidding process in the first place? The world’s biggest management expert has mis-managed a tiny issue which has blown out of proportions.

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