KARACHI, Dec 25: The Pakistan Cricket Board is keen for their players to participate in the lucrative Indian Premier League in 2011 despite being snubbed this year.

Pakistani players have not participated in the last two editions of the IPL due to political tensions between the two countries although in the inaugural edition in 2008 over a dozen Pakistanis played for different franchises in the T20 league that attracts players from every cricketing nation.

Last year the Indian franchises did not bid for any Pakistani cricketer at the players' auction although the PCB had sent names of around 10 players after giving them clearance.

PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed told reporters on Saturday that the board had contacted the Indian Cricket Board on the issue.

“We have written to the Indian board that we are willing to provide any clearance to our players for the IPL,” Subhan said.

“We want Pakistani participation in the IPL, that is our official stand but obviously we need for the Indian board to talk to us.”

Subhan said that under new rules framed by the IPL no Pakistani player could take part in the league for any franchise before getting clearance from both boards.

“No player can individually be approached or can approach any franchise now for a contract,” he said.

The Indian government has not encouraged bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan since the militant attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

Subhan further said the Pakistan-Afghanistan match in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China was not fixed.

He added that investigation into the match-fixing allegations, after some media reports, found nothing wrong in the match.

“We spoke to all stakeholders, including manager, coach and captain and found no wrongdoings,” he said.

The Pakistan team comprising their second string players suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in the semi-finals of the newly introduced T20 cricket in the Asiad.

Some players were accused of match-fixing as they deliberately played badly and slowly and lost the game to Rashid Latif-coached Afghan team.

Subhan said plans to invite junior teams from Bangladesh and Zimbabwe were under consideration for 2011.

He added that the country needed to change the perception of its security capabilities by hosting junior matches before it seeks to again stage senior international matches.

“We have to start with junior tours to change perception about security (in Pakistan),” he said. “It will give confidence to other boards and then full-fledged tours can begin.”

Subhan said negotiations with a number of cricket boards were ongoing, but added that the process could be slow and a lot will depend on the security situation in Pakistan.

“We are in touch with a number of cricket boards, but this process will be gradual, not an overnight one,” he said.

Pakistan has been forced to organise its home series at the United Arab Emirates and England after gunmen attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore last year. Six police officials and a van driver were killed in the attack.

Subsequently, the International Cricket Council stripped Pakistan of its status as co-host of next year's World Cup.

In the meantime, Pakistan will continue to play its home matches abroad with Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE likely to serve as two of its 'host' cities. Pakistans recent series against South Africa was played in UAE.

Pakistan is also due to host England in January 2012 and Subhan confirmed UAE could be one of the venues.

“It's a full tour with three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 game,” Subhan said.

“We have not yet decided on the venue as yet but UAE is one of the options. England have committed to it as part of Future Tour Program.”

PCB director general Javed Miandad favoured using China as one of the neutral venues after cricket made a successful debut in the country at last month's Asian Games at Guangzhou.

But Subhan said it was too early for the PCB to consider China as one of its 'host' countries for international matches.

“The stadium is a state of the art venue and the feedback we have is that it matches any international venue in the world,” Subhan said. “But it's difficult to say whether we will consider it as a venue at this stage because we have to see marketing and logistics there before deciding whether it is viable.”—Agencies