It seems that the IPL is becoming a farce. How dare they mix politics with sport. It seems strange and utterly stupid to me that not even one Pakistani player was drafted in the auction. I mean hello the Pakis are World T20 champions, sure we suck at test cricket but we are a leading force in Twenty20. I don’t understand why no franchise would sign up a Pakistani player.
I mean their reasons were Visa issues, which is bullshit, the history of all this began with the IPL having a deadline for all players from all countries to submit the correct paperwork to be eligible to play this included visas and clearance. Initially the PCB missed the deadline, but the BCCI and IPL extended the deadline to allow Pakistanis more time to have clearance, to which the PCB submitted NOC clearances approved by them and the Pakistani government to allow Pakistani players to participate. The players were then shortlisted to 14 and were put into the draft, players like Afridi and Umar Gul and Akmal brothers etc. Even after the reassurance from the IPL president that there will be no issue from any government to the participation of Pakistani players none of the Franchises bought any players.
The reason given was they were not sure if there would be trouble or not. I mean how stupid is all of this all that is required for the Pakistanis to play is visa clearance from India, i mean how hard is it to get 14 passports stamped they are not everyday Pakistanis these guys are sportsmen well known and famous in the subcontinent this whole visa stamping issue is a big political sham to make sure Pakistan is not involved in any cricket events.
India have already not supported Pakistan in the World Cup game allocation and Pakistan was not allowed to host its own quota of games in Dubai their nominated ICC approved neutral venue for the world cup. Pakistan has stood beside India for many years in cricketing circles and now when Pakistan is in such a bad state their Indian brothers are just rubbing salt into our wounds. Its really pathetic and it looses credibility to the IPL i mean how can u have a tournament when the top players (current world champions) are banned from playing.
Pure Stupidity.
