By Omar Khalid, IANS,
Karachi: Pakistan’s cricketers cleared the final hurdle in their way to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Wednesday when the country’s interior ministry Wednesday gave them a clearance to play in India.
A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman told IANS that the board has received intimation from the interior ministry that it has no objection to the players’ participation in the IPL.
“We have been informed by the interior ministry today that it will not object to the participation of Pakistani cricketers in the IPL,” said Nadeem Sarwar, PCB’s general manager (Media).
“This means that the PCB is now in a position to issue formal NOCs (no objection certificate) to any Pakistani player wishing to play in the IPL,” he said.
On Tuesday, the PCB was given a ‘political’ clearance by Pakistan’s foreign ministry for the IPL.
The latest development means that Pakistani cricketers can now start applying for Indian visas. Till now, there are four Pakistani cricketers who have applied for NOCs to feature in the next IPL edition. They include Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal.
Only Sohail Tanvir, who was a star of Rajasthan Royals title-winning triumph in the inaugural IPL last year, will be applying for a visa from Pakistan. Razzaq, who is currently playing league cricket in Bangladesh, will lodge his application in Dhaka while Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal will apply for the Indian visa in New Zealand where they are currently playing in a Test series.
Pakistan’s cricketers missed the second edition of IPL held in South Africa earlier this year after the authorities decided against clearing their visit to India, which was originally supposed to host the league. However, the event was moved to South Africa because of security apprehensions.