By Omar Khalid, IANS,
Karachi : Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi feels the absence of Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will take some gloss away from the cash-rich spectacle.
“I think the absence of our cricketers will not be good for cricket or the IPL. We are the world champions and our players would have added more colour to the IPL,” he said.
Earlier this week, IPL chairman Lalit Modi ruled out the participation of Pakistani players in the third IPL edition beginning in March next year due to an ongoing delay in obtaining visas for the event.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was keen on its players participating in the third edition in India next year and although the government has this time cleared the team to participate, the players have not yet been furnished with visas.
Modi, who had last month extended the deadline to Dec 7 for Pakistan’s players to get clearances in order, said the league could not permit more extensions.
Afridi, who was approached by Rajasthan Royals for the next IPL season, said he is not disappointed over missing out.
“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,” he was quoted as saying by The News, Wednesday.
Afridi sees Pakistan’s omission from the IPL as a blessing in disguise as it will allow him and his teammates to completely focus on their title defence in the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies in May.
“We will have a perfect window to hold a proper camp and get ready for the Twenty20
World Cup,” said Afridi, who was Pakistan’s biggest star in their successful World Twenty20 campaign in England last June.
Afridi is looking at the bright side of things but in the meantime he is also aware that he and other Pakistani players have been deprived of a chance to feature in what is one of world cricket’s most glamorous events.
He believes that the Indian cricket authorities fell short of doing their bit to confirm the participation of Pakistani players in the Twenty20 league.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Other Pakistani players who were looking forward to featuring in the competition include Sohail Tanvir, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul and Misbah-ul-Haq. Several other of their teammates were also approached by different franchises, who were eager to have members of the team that won the World Twenty20.