Everyone wants to see Pakistani players in action: IPL chairman

Everyone wants to see Pakistani players in action: IPL chairman

"The IPL functions under the BCCI and when bilateral relations resume between the two boards, the IPL will also not be a problem for Pakistani players." -File photo

Pakistan cricketers’ participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is directly related to the resumption of ties between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), vice-president of the Indian board Rajiv Shukla told a private new channel on Sunday.

Cricket relations between the two countries severed, without any official announcement, following terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

But Shukla, who is also the chairman of the IPL, assured that no one is against Pakistan or Pakistani players in India, citing examples of existing Pakistani commentator and umpires in IPL 5.

“The IPL functions under the BCCI and when bilateral relations resume between the two boards, the IPL will also not be a problem for Pakistani players,” he added.

“I don’t think we should be pessimistic about Indo-Pak bilateral relations, remain optimistic … Pakistani players have special talents and everyone likes to see them play. But we need to be patient and wait for good things to happen.”

No Pakistani cricketer has competed in the IPL since the inaugural edition in 2008, although former all-rounder Azhar Mahmood will be taking part this year after being granted British citizenship.

While the question of when the issues will be ironed out remains uncertain with the BCCI generally shifting the onus of mending bilateral ties to the government, the Telegraph said that an “almost certain” November visit by the Indian prime minister to Pakistan would be the barometer of ties between the two countries.

According to Shukla, India’s hectic international calendar and the security situation in Pakistan, where no Test team has been hosted after the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, are major roadblocks to the resumption of bilateral ties.

“The PCB needs to do something and convince other cricket nations at the level of the International Cricket Council that it is safe and secure to play in Pakistan … they need to do more and get the support of leading nations like Australia, England and South Africa,” he said.

The ICC’s Future Tours Programme has several periods marked out for series between India and Pakistan, but doesn’t mention any details – a tentative number of games and which formats.

The PCB has also been pushing for the inclusion of domestic teams from Pakistan in the Champions League T20, where the previous winner received $2.5m.

Despite this, the PCB chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmed, told ESPNcricinfo that the organisers call the shots to whether Pakistan’s cricket team is represented in the league.

For Ahmed, ties with India and everything connected with it are the only difficulties standing in the way of Pakistan’s participation.

“Once the bilateral ties between Pakistan and India are revived, all these issues will automatically be resolved. So our priority is to revive Indo-Pak cricket,” he added.

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