By IANS,
Islamabad: Pakistan erupted in a fury Tuesday after none of its 11 cricketers fielded for the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction were picked up, with Sports Minister Ejaz Jhakhrani speaking to his Indian counterpart but being told there was noting the government could do.
Disappointed Pakistani players and a section of the country’s political establishment called it a “conspiracy” by India to keep out the Pakistanis from the cash-rich tournament.
Quoting sources, Online news agency said that Jhakhrani told Indian Sports Minister M.S. Gill that it was “utterly disappointing that not a single Pakistani was auctioned for the cash lucrative IPL”, adding that “such decisions in the field of sports are contradictory and hard to understand”.
On his part, Gill made it clear to Jhakhrani that the Indian sports ministry had nothing to do with the IPL and that since it was a commercial venture, the government could not interfere in the matter.
Noting that Pakistani cricketers were the “best in the world”, Jhakhrani said earlier Tuesday: “It looks like a conspiracy by India to give such treatment to our stars.”
He said the failure to pick up any Pakistani player in the IPL auction, although Pakistan are the World Twenty20 champions, was “hugely disappointing”.
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports charged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with negligence and asked it to explain how and why Pakistani players were ignored at the auction in Mumbai.
Committee chairman Jamshed Dasti said the PCB was the main culprit, because of whose negligence the Pakistani cricketers had “missed a golden opportunity”.
Pakistani players were unforgiving.
“I am very disappointed,” said all-rounder Abdul Razzaq. “This is a conspiracy to malign us… It was their plan.”
Ace batsman Shahid Afridi added: “The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of Pakistan and our players.”