No IPL for Pakistani players until resumption of bilateral ties, says Rajeev Shukla - Cricket News Update
Rajeev Shukla, the chairman of Indian Premier League, on Sunday, made it clear that the participation of Pakistani players in the lucrative Twenty20 league is not possible until the resumption of bilateral cricketing ties between the arch-rivals.
Shukla told a Pakistan news channel that he himself felt sad for the Pakistani players not allowed to feature in the esteemed Twenty20 tournament, however, he insisted that the decision was tied to revival of cricket terms between PCB and BCCI.
"The reality is that everything is tied to the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between the two countries. Once that happens I think everything will happen automatically," Shukla told Geo News, a Pakistan news channel, in an interview on Sunday.
Pakistan players had featured in the inaugural session of the cash-rich league in 2008 and delivered some eye-catching performances as well. But the deadly http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 attacks in November 2008 put the cricketing relations between the rivals on hold, as the Indian
government suspected http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s involvement in the incident.
In the aftermath, the BCCI also cancelled its team’s scheduled tour of Pakistan in 2008-09. Since then, bilateral cricket ties between the two countries have reached a deadlock. No Pakistan player has been picked in the ensuing editions of IPL, including
the ongoing season five of the Twenty20 league.
Shukla, who is also the vice president of BCCI, said that the IPL is not an independent body rather it is a sub-committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and cannot take the decision of playing Pakistan players in the league at its own.
"The IPL functions under the BCCI and when bilateral relations resume between the two boards the IPL will also not be a problem for Pakistani players," said the IPL chairman.
Shukla also played down the talks of campaign and hatred against Pakistan players in the Indian cricket board saying that had it been so, they would not have allowed Pakistan commentators and umpires to participate in the latest edition of the tournament,
underway in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 since Aril 4, 2012.
Shukla asked the Pakistan players and fans to be patient and wait for next couple of months so that the two boards could reach some settlement over the issue.
"Let me tell you we all know that some Pakistani players have special talents and everyone likes to see them play. But we need to be patient and wait for good things to happen," said the BCCI vice-president.
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