Lahore, December 09: Deeply disappointed with the decision to exclude Pakistan players from the third season of the IPL, prolific opener Shahid Afridi feels that playing in the high-profile Twenty20 tournament would have improved cross-border relations.
The five Pakistan cricketers who were in line for an appearence in the IPL, next year, had received clearances from the sports, foreign affairs and interior ministries, as well as an NOC from the PCB and letters of invitation from IPL franchises for taking part in next year’s competition.
But they failed to obtain visas in time which scuppered their chances.
Afridi, however, feels that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi could have shown more lenience.
”I think Pakistan have always been supportive of Indian cricket in the past which is why I was expecting them (India) to be more positive towards us,” Afridi told ‘The News’
”But it seems that’s not the case. 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.
”I think the absence of our cricketers will not be good for cricket or the IPL,” he added. This would be the second successive time that Pakistan players will be absent from the IPL since they were barred from participating in the second edition held in South Africa following strainedrelations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in November last year.
But Afridi insisted that he is not disappointed at missing out on the multi-million dollar event, adding that the time would be utilised in preparing to defend Pakistan’s World T20 crown in April-May next year.
”Not really. I mean it would have been good to make our IPL comeback next year but it is now clear that we won’t be able to do that. It’s like we can’t do anything about it,” Afridi, who is the captain of the national T20 team, said.
”Now that it has been decided that we are not playing (in the IPL) we will have a perfect window to hold a proper camp and get ready for the Twenty20 World Cup,” he added.
Five Pakistan players were hoping to feature in IPL 2010 including Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Misbah-ul-Haq, who had all played in the first season.
–Agencies