Pakistan players set to feature in Sri Lankan Premier League T20 tournament – Cricket News
The first edition of the Sri Lankan Premier League T20 cricket tournament is set to start in the last week of July.
Leading players from around the World are set to take part in the league which is not as lucrative as other T20 leagues. However it is likely to draw the interest of Pakistani players who have missed out on the riches of the Indian
Premier League for the last three years owing to the strained relations between the governments of Pakistan and India.
The players likely to represent different teams in the competition include Pakistan’s limited overs captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Akhtar-c90080, discarded
all rounder Shoaib Malik and one of the leading fast bowlers in international cricket http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Gul-c94604.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board has given the green signal to the players who have been approached by the organisers of the league, as their only concern is that players should make themselves available for international duty if the need
arises during the duration of the tournament.
However it is unlikely to happen as Pakistan is not scheduled to play any cricket at the highest level during the tournament.
"We told them, in theory, we have no issues with our players taking part in the tournament," a senior board official told media. "The first priority of each player of course will be Pakistan's international commitments and if there
is something on in that window and the player concerned is picked for Pakistan, that commitment will take priority."
On the other hand there are some thorny issues that are set to affect the participation of players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Malik-c90088.
The participation of the former captain will depend on whether he will be cleared by the PCB's integrity committee, which has not yet cleared him after a probe of his assets and bank accounts failed to convince the committee of the
origin and legitimacy of a transaction worth 90,000 British pounds.
The league will be an ideal opportunity for Pakistani players to make up somewhat for the financial loss that they had to incur by the IPL snub in the last three editions of the league.
The Pakistanis are currently the only players from the Test-playing nations not to be taking part in biggest and most lucrative league that has helped some of the leading cricketers from around the world earn in millions.
Due to the stand-off with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, the Pakistani players have also been denied the opportunity of taking part in the equally lucrative IPL spin-off, the Champions League.
For most of the players the opportunities are limited in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, two countries that have an annual T20 tournament. The PCB official stated that the governing body of the game in the country is aware of the predicament
that the players are facing and wants to help them out where ever they can.
"We are aware that our players have not benefitted as others around the world have done, though much of this is out of our hands," the official said. "This will be a good opportunity, if things work out, for them to take part."
The Sri Lankan league is not in any way close to being as rich as the IPL, yet the players placed in the top tier would have an opportunity of earning a decent sum of US$ 30,000, almost all of the eight Pakistanis are expected to be
placed in the top tier.
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