Lahore, January 27: Upset by the ‘humiliating’ treatment meted out to Pakistani players at the IPL auction in Mumbai last week, Sports Minister Ijaz Jhakrani has demanded the Indian government to carry out an inquiry into the issue.
”We want the government of India to intervene in this issue and let us know who were responsible in keeping Pakistan cricketers away from the IPL,” Jhakrani said.
”From day one our stance is that the IPL decision was an influenced one.” All the 11 Pakistani players in the auction list found no takers at the glitzy IPL3 auction.
The matter has outraged players, politicians and fans here.
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram and Kolkata Knight Riders team owner Shah Rukh Khan expressed disappointed on Monday over non-inclusion of Pakistan players in the IPL.
”His (Chidambaram’s) statement is a positive sign and it vindicates our stance, and I would appreciate if the government of India interferes in this (IPL) issue,” Jhakrani said.
”Their statements make it crystal clear that there was involvement of a third player in influencing the IPL auction.” Jhakrani termed the exclusion of Pakistan players ”a serious issue”.
”How can they (IPL franchises) avoid bidding for players from the world champion team?” Jhakrani said. As a sign of protest against the snub to Pakistan’s cricketers, the speaker of the lower house had also stopped a parliamentary delegation from traveling to India.
——Agencies