Despite remarkable presentation by the Pakistani players in the first edition of IPL, they are once again abandoned in the IPL edition of 2012. The performance by the Pakistani players outshined the performance of rest of the players which, as expected, led to the emergence of resentment among the board members of IPL.
The explanation given by the commissioner of IPL for not including Pakistan was that Pakistani players were accessible via auction but it was exclusively up to the franchise whether to pay money for them or not. This was a failed attempt to cover up their discriminatory stance against Pakistani players which may be due to their own insecurities.
Recently, in the fifth edition of IPL, Azhar Mehmood was purchased for US$ 200,000 by Kings XI Punjab after receiving the British passport. It clearly points to the fact that a cricket player with a Pakistani green passport cannot enter the door of the Indian Premier League.
Ravindra Jadeja, who cannot match the proficiency of players like Umer Gul, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, was sold for US$ 2million. It is evident that the Indian Premier League does not want Pakistani players to be a part of this league as it would lead to a shift in focus from the Indian players to our outstanding Pakistani cricket players.
YUMNA RAFI
Karachi
