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KARACHI: A senior Pakistani cricket official Saturday blamed India for the exclusion of Pakistan’s players from next year’s lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.
Subhan Ahmed, chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), claimed that India did not respond to queries about the participation of Pakistani players.
“We asked them about the participation of Pakistani players, but they did not give any response,” he told reporters.
“From our end all the documentation that is needed, we undertake to provide them, whether that is permissions or no-objection certificates.”
He said Pakistan wanted its players to participate in the contest, which is a financial bonanza for those who take part, but said: “(Pakistanis) playing or not in this event is not in our hands.”
The PCB’s response came after an Indian Premier League (IPL) official said Tuesday that no Pakistani cricketers were on a list of 416 players for next month’s auction for the fourth edition of the tournament, which is to be held in April and May next year.
“The rules stipulate that a player must apply through his home board if he wanted to be put up for the auction. No names were received from Pakistan,” Ratnakar Shetty told AFP.
Eleven Pakistani cricketers took part in the inaugural IPL in 2008, but were forced out of the 2009 edition due to security concerns in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
They were then overlooked for the 2010 tournament after teams failed to bid for them in the auction.
The PCB was left fuming by the perceived snub and in January this year revoked all the players’ permissions for the IPL.
Since then only paceman Mohammad Irfan, who played two one-day internationals for Pakistan this year, has been linked to an IPL team – the Kolkata Knight Riders – for next year’s edition.
But the Ahmed denied any Pakistani players, or IPL teams, had asked for the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the PCB required to play.
“No player or franchise has approached us,” Ahmed said. “They’ve actually revised the process of inducting players so any player who wants to participate will have to get permission and NOC from their board.”
