Pakistani players to miss out IPL III

Another crucial blow for Pakistan came on 8th December, 2009 when the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) failed to get the required visas from the Indian High Commission for their players. The PCB is maintaining its stand that they have done everything possible to obtain visas from the Indian Government but cannot force them to do so.

Ijaz Butt, the PCB Chairman reported on Wednesday, 9th December, 2009, "We submitted all clearance documents from our government ministries. We can do nothing more the ball is now in the court of the IPL." While on the other hand, the IPL Commissioner, Lalit Modi has said that since the PCB is unsuccessful in obtaining the required visas, no Pakistani player will be able to take part in the IPL this year. We have been informed by the PCB that they have not been able to obtain the visas as of now. So we are not able to extend the deadline,” Modi reported to the media.

The present scenario has created much of an uproar in Pakistan. The Pakistani Ministry has regarded this act as an insult and said that the IPL organizers are using lame excuses to exclude their players from the event. Currently PCB is going through a financial crisis due to lack of matches and a bilateral series against India could be a savior. Butt reported to the media on 7th December, 2009 that Pakistan was losing almost 71% of its income because of the canceled matches.

Pakistani senior batsman and an a star performer for the team, Shahid Afridi spoke to the News, “think Pakistan have always been supportive of Indian cricket in the past which is why I was expecting them to be more positive towards us.” He further added, “I personally believe that sports promote harmony and it would have been good for both Pakistan and India if our players would have been allowed to play in the IPL.” The recent updates have also received comments from the Federal Minister for Sports, Aftab Shah Jillani, “If the IPL didn't want our players to take part in the tournament why did they bother to even ask the cricket board to furnish all government clearances for the players.”

Modi has expressed regret on the unfortunate turn of events and said that players will be missed, "They (Pakistan) are the reigning ICC T20 champions. We would have got some exciting players, but it's unfortunate that they would not be available (for IPL III)." Currently five Pakistani players have signed contracts with various IPL teams namely, Misbah-ul-haq, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul. Until last week, there was quite a possibility of seeing them perform at the IPL 2010 but since they have not been able to obtain a visa, an exclusion from the series is unavoidable.

Pakistani players were also missed at the last IPL season since the PCB did not allow them to travel to India on security reasons. But this year, the board was keen on getting their players involved with IPL. IPL III is all set to begin on March 12, 2010 and the teams are now looking out for replacements for the Pakistani players.