The Indian cricket fans might be absorbed in the England series but, without doubt, the contest they are every eagerly awaiting is the 2 T20 and 3 ODI series against Pakistan Series, starting December 25.
While the BCCI in India welcomed the resumption of two-sided series between the 2 teams after the government go-ahead, it has also decided to clearly separate their stance on the Pakistan team and Pakistani players.
The Indian Premier League governing council has subtly informed the franchises, after their meeting on November 21, not to pick Pakistan players during January’s IPL player auction. It fears that any new argument might completely tarnish the image of the IPL, though they have officially deferred the matter till the next meeting.
The IPL main council includes Chairman Rajiv Shukla, Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shastri, Anirudh Chaudhary, MP Pandove, among others.
According to sources, the Board is wary of quite a few factors, including recent spot-fixing allegation against Pakistani players, their off-field bad behavior and the practical problem of providing extra security as well as intimidation of disruption from political clothes against their contribution.
A top BCCI official confirmed to MAIL TODAY that the board isn’t keen on Pakistan players participating.”We are trying to discourage the franchises against picking them during the auction. And there are clear reasons for it,” he said without elaborate on the issues.
Pakistan players, including Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar and now-banned Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif all played in the 1st year of IPL but were released from their contracts then.
Asif was banned for 1 year after being found responsible of using banned drug Nandrolone and later BCCI, in wake of 2008 terror attacks, had shut the doors on them.
Only Azhar Mahmood, a former Pakistan player was part of last IPL but he was picked as a British citizen. The decision should come as a shocker to several Pakistan players who were hoping that resumption of ties could also their way to IPL riches.
Franchises though are quite comfortable with the BCCI mandate
“There aren’t too many big players to pick anyways, and most of us have very unfinished slots. Maybe if those players were available, Saeed Ajmal would have been a major draw or Abdul Razzaq or Umar Akmal,” a franchisee owner said.
