Slap reciprocal sanctions on India
on January 19th, 2010 at 10:43 pmPakistani cricketers will not feature in the third edition of the Indian Premier League this year after being ignored by franchises at the players’ auction on Tuesday.
Before the auction it was expected that Pakistan player’s will be the most sort after because of their experitse in the format. But all the 11 players were ignored by the franchise owners.
The franchise owners in a statement sa.id that they were not sure of the availability of Pakistani players due to political tension between the two countries.
If this was true then why they expressed interest in those players? Why they made them go through Visa process and clearances.
The move is nothing but a childish attempt to insult Pakistan players and the country.
But the good thing is that the players learned a lesson. They failed to realize that the relations between the two countries were tense after the Mumbai incident. In the wake of political tensions and the behavior pattern of BCCI to marginalise Pakistan cricket anybody could have anticipated this move from the Indians. The players should have snubbed IPL in the first place and should have given national pride more importance than their lust for money.
The decision has made all the players upset who were up for auction.
Afridi, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain, was the first player up for sale on Tuesday but fetched no bids. He called it a snub to his country. “The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country,” he said. “We are the Twenty20 world champions and for me the attitude of the franchises was disappointing. I feel bad for the Indian people who, I am sure, wanted to see us play in the IPL this year.”
Abdul Razzaq, the allrounder, said politics and sports should be kept separate. “They have basically tried to hurt our cricket and image and this is most disappointing because I believe there should be no politics in sports,” Razzaq was quoted as saying by PTI. “In the end it is the IPL which has lost out because the fact is our players have star value and are the best in T20 cricket.”
The Pakistan government had not permitted its players to participate in last year’s tournament due to security fears after the Mumbai attacks. The wrangling continued in the run-up to this year’s auction; when the Pakistan players failed to procure the requisite NOCs, the IPL shut its doors on them for missing out on the December 7 deadline but relented when Pakistan’s interior ministry cleared the players for participation in the IPL.
Tanvir, the best bowler in the inaugural IPL and an instrumental part of the Rajasthan Royals’ title win, wondered why so much effort was put into getting the clearance from his country’s board and government if none of the franchises wanted to buy Pakistan players.
“They mean to say none of our players are good enough to be in the IPL,” Tanvir said. “I am sorry to say the franchises have taken a decision not based on cricketing sense but on political grounds which is a shame and has hurt the image of the sport.”
However, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, was relatively unfazed. “It really does not bother us; what difference does it make to us if our players don’t play in the IPL this season? They didn’t play in the last season as well,” he said.
It is important to note that despite the political tensions Indian movies are still running in Pakistan, IPL will be telecasted in Pakistan, the imports from India are still open but Pakistan players won’t be able to play in IPL Pakistan is facing unilateral sanctions from India and it is high time that our politicians wake up and slap reciprocal sanctions on India.
Most Pakistani’s didn’t took any interest in IPL last season but this season all Pakistani’s should boycott IPL. It’s high time that the ministry of sports announce it’s policy in response to India’s stance and stop giving any future clearance to Pakistani sportsmen to play in India.
Its going to be Afridi Stani. The point I was trying to make was that he was visibly out of from couldn’t middle any thing couldn’t play his pull shots it would have been a good idea to send him during the test series so that he could have acclimatized to the conditions and had regained some of his form. Just pushing him into ODI’s especially when he was not in form is just like they don’t want him to do well.
That was classy of Ejaz Butt to announce in the middle of the series that we are going to announce a new Captain after this series. Man can somebody bring him to me I just want to choke him to death.
Wasim
I don’t mind that average, even if it seems a bit low as long as he can get it at a good strike rate. But his strike rate in ODIs has always been poor. Yes, he would have been good in the Tests.
As far as middling and timing is concerned, Younis has a habit of fluffing that….although I blame his skinny arms!
I don’t think you can blame Yousuf. He was put in that situation. We will have a ‘new’ captain after the series anyway….whatever that means. I think they’ll go back to Younis as Afridi, the only other viable option, may seem a bit left-field for them.
Did anybody noticed that we had four captains on the field and Yousuf looked like a dumb fuck calling a conference for every bowling or field change.
Stani
Imagine if he was sent during the test matches even with this poor form he could have occupied the crease.
Younis has an Odi average of 33 he has never been a great ODI player even a 9 year old could see that he was out of form, he didn’t middle any ball, his timing was not right, I don’t think it’s his fault it is the fault of selectors who sent him late and for the wrong format, it will take time for him to adjust to the conditions.
Afridi except for that last over did a good job the problem is with our field placement.
Ajmal should not have played on this pitch. It was too flat for him to be effective.
Wasim,
I dont want to be too critical of Younis because this was a big innings for him in some ways but he is back to his old tricks of using too many balls. He has done it in the past, come in and totally halted the momentum of the innings. He needs to sort this out. I know a lot of other things happened to influence the result but how useful would those extra balls have been?
What the hell happened to Afridi and Ajmal? Usually they’re our match winners with wickets and more consistently, good economy.
Cut out the mistakes and we’d have been cruising to victory.
How did Akmal do?
275 was defendable but Mohammad Yousaf’s poor field placing and poor bowling changes didn’t help Pakistan today he failed as a captain for me. Afridi’s over of 22 also didn’t help Pakistan much.
Earlier Younis scored at an agonizingly slow rate and wasted too many deliveries and put all the pressure on his partners to score runs who kept on getting out while trying to accelerate the run rate.
Bollinger and Watson were the pick of the bowlers. Full Marks to Ponting for great captaincy.
274-not a bad score but we really should have got to 300.
Gul’s batting I must say is better than Rana. ICL performance was a fluke.
Damn Rana think it is ICL
BOOM BOOM BANG 6 4 3 Damn Rana 0 0 0.
BOOM BOOM 2 DAMN 0 BANG 4 BANG 4 BANG 4 BANG 4
RANA 1 BOOM BOOM DAMN 0 DAMN 0 BANG BANG 6
OUT
GREAT JOB BOOMBOOM
All the pressure is on Afridi and Rana now. Can’t under stand why YK played it straight to the fielder.
It was a slow innings by YK kind of crippled Pakistan’s progress initially.
Aamer gone can’t understand why he came before Rana.
10 runs and 2 wickets fromm the over..
Malik is gone trying to accelerate. BOOM BOOM is at the crease lets see if the two Khans can do the job for Pakistan. Pakistan should take Power play while Afridi is there. Yk is dropped.
Power play is taken. YK is gone first ball of the power play.
Surprisingly the collapse halted with the arrival of Malik, both YK and Malik played sensibly and are scoring runs on singles with out wasting many deliveries. Pakistan might feel that they lost 1 wicket too many at this stage otherwise they would have been attacking the Australian bowlers at this stage.
The final score will depend on the last batting power play. Pakistan might get 275-285
Even 250 is not a possibility now. The bowling which was looking ordinary when Salman butt and Akmal were batting looks difficult to score off now. Bolllinger has so far been the most impressive bowler.
The opening stand has already been wasted 300 is not a possibility anymore with this scoring rate.
YK is determined to stay on the wicket but is struggling to score quick too bad we didn’t recalled him in test matches he could have been back in form by now.
Umar Akmal gone trying to accelerate the run rate.
Yk still looks out of form a good opening stand might get wasted over here.
If one assumes that there was no directive issued by the Indian Government to IPL authorities/ franchises and it was strictly a business decision by the franchise owners to eliminate risk of a future unavailability of Pakistani players due to some unforeseen political event, then this risk was ever present since the Mumbai incident then why the franchises and the IPL authorities kept silent about it and never conveyed their apprehensions to the Pakistani players and PCB before considering Pak players or while they were made to sweat to fullfill all the requirements.
I am willing to believe that some franchises might have thought that way but all of them did it only to eliminate risk I don’t think so, as the lack of interest for Pakistani players during the auction must have opened a window of opportunity to grab some of the Pakistani players at base price for a few struggling franchises who performed poorly last year there was no risk in it for them especially when the players are paid on pro-rata basis.
The Last minute silence of the franchises about their apprehensions show that either it was a predetermined decision on their part to humiliate Pakistani players and they were just playing with them all along or the franchises recieved an official directive. The later is more likely as a team like KKR would not have given Razzaq a contract in advance if the franchises had made a unanimous decision of not to bid for Pakistani players.
The reluctance of India to maintain normal sporting relations with Pakistan after the Mumbai incident clearly shows that this decision is the continuation of an unspoken policy which was put in place after the Mumbai incident.
The manner in which they carried out this whole drama only reflects their nature and it clearly shows that India with this mentality will not be able to play the leadership role in world cricket.
Qamar
It will be tough for Pakistan, the Australian side is high in confidence where as our team is demoralized.
Several key players are under pressure to perform and will be looking to regain form it will depend on how quickly they come back into form. Australian batting as we have seen in the test matches have already found form and they are going to get some reinforncment.
I think Australia will win the series.
what do you think the series outcome will be wasim?
Qamar
Don’t be too optimistic.
You know what happened last time.
Pakistan team will have to win the Odi series to redeem themselves. Especially Akmal brothers.
Anon
Please use your name to comment.
I think Chintu’s comment has brought out the worst in you. I understand that you got angry because of his provocation but lets maintain the difference and refrain from personal attacks and hate ful remarks.
I hope you won’t mind my suggession.
Qamar
Welcome back.
These will be the teams for the first ODI
Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Cameron White, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Nathan Hauritz, 9 Clint McKay, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Doug Bollinger, 12 James Hopes.
Things are less clear for Pakistan, who are lugging around a 17-man squad. Expect Kamran Akmal to return, more for his power hitting as an opener than his glovework, after he was dropped for the third Test in Hobart. The final bowling place appears to be between Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who has been playing for Tasmania in the Big Bash, and Umar Gul. Younis and Afridi come back to offer some serious strike power.
Pakistan (possible) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Mohammad Asif, 10 Mohammed Aamer, 11 Saeed Ajmal.
Pakistan squad for the first ODI: Muhammad Yousuf, Younus Khan, Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Aamir, Saeed Ajmal, Rana Naved. Fawad Alam (12th man).
Found it at last. Looks as if kamran akmal will open the batting with butt and i must say the team is looking strong. Im feeling confident that we will win the series. I no i was a little optomistic with my test prediction but i feel our team has more of a balance than the australian side. Cannot wait to see umar akmal and shahid afridi batting together:)
Basically india cannot take the fact that we won the t20 world cup..and thats it lol. Now i think think that is enough talk about the ipl.. Does anyone have any news on the squad for the one day internationals and t20 fixtures against australia?
shitinthephoenix,
I think that sums up the response from India to Pakistan. Your comments are plain for the whole world to see and only backs up what Wasim said.
Just a few facts for you:
- Pak vs Ind Sept. 2009 = India lost
- “We are one of the favourites to win the T20 WC” = India could only beat Bangladesh and Ireland, before losing to England, West Indies and South Africa
- We have the best and most experienced players in the IPL = “Did no-one teach this guy how to play short balls at the IPL”, David Lloyd on Raina’s “brilliant” performance at the IPL. By the way, just in case your a beggar and can’t afford to watch tv, Pakistan won the last T20 WC.
How many of the so called best Indian players played in the Big Bash in Australia?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBl50t-z_9k
That link above represents what people really think of your country. If you don’t reply soon, I’ll assume you accept that India is full of ***** and that your’s is the smallest one.
P.S. Remind your great batsman that he got bowled by a 17 year old.
Chintu Ji
Aap kay pind sey agay jahan aur bhi hain.
Our players have other options EPL,County Cricket, Big bash etc etc.. its not the end of the world for them. They will be less burned out, more hungry and more angry to kick some…… butt when they go to the T20 WC. And go look in your own backyard you will see half a billion beggars living under global poverty line of $1 a day.
chintuthephoenix, Thanks for representing the Indian fans. I’m sure all the decent Indian people will be happy with your contribution, or not! Numb nuts. Twenty20 World Champions by the way.
Our board should support our players and encourage them not to take part in a tournament which quite frankly does not want them there. And to be honest, it’s not a big deal if we don’t play in it because the IPL’s insignificant in the overall scheme of things and will continue to get even more insignificant.
Awesome job in insulting the Pakis by IPL, I absolutely loved it!
Well, Mr.Afridi_whose_terrorist_cousin_was_killed_by_Indian_forces_in_Kashmir, no need to show false sympathy by saying Indian fans will miss seeing Pakis like you in action. No, we won’t!!
In case you still have missed the larger point being made, BEGGARS from TERRORISTAN are NOT WELCOME in INDIA!!
Jonathan
You are right . But Modi asked PCB to get clearance from both Indian government and Pakistan government to which Butt responded that getting clearance from Indian government is not our responsibility this was published on Cricinfo. The NoC’s were subject to the clearance from respective governments. They all of a sudden announced that Pakistani players will have to get visa’s in two days which was impossible even they knew it. But later on the dead line was extended and the player got the Visas.
As you said the players eventually got all these, but all this running around they did resulted in what?
Obviously the franchises know something from the Indian side which was never made Public.
I don’t think in this case PCB is at fault.
Wasim, there is a lot going on, so it’s easy to confuse people by mixing up the terminology. The NOC comes from the cricket board (for the Pakistanis, the PCB). The IPL also asked for clearance from the Pakistani government (we have seen that this can be withheld). All players also need visas, from the Indian government, just like anyone else who wants to work in India. It sounds like the playes did eventually get all of these.
Having said that, Modi and the PCB are both great at making things up as they go along. They deserve each other…
Anon
You highlighted another important point.
Wasim is right i’m afraid. It is clear why they have been excluded as Wasim has hihlighted.
But consider this as well. If you were India, and your greatest rival Pakistan were the T20 champions, in a format that you have the most experienced players in (through IPL) and in which you were totally embarassed in the World T20, would you assist Pakistan?
For those who say yes, then consider this. England vs. Australia – The Ashes – how much was made of the fact of allowing Phil Hughes to play for Middlesex before the Ashes?
Mahek
Lalit Modi told PCB that they will not only have to take NOC from their government but also from the Indian government, PCB told the IPL authorites that to take NOC from Indian authorities is not their responsibility and after discussions between the two organizations it was decided that IPL authorities will seek that Noc from the Indian government.
You can go back in archives of Cricinfo and search this news article.
What NOCs from Indian Government are you talking about my friend? The NOCs issued for the IPL are from the Cricket Board that is allowing its players to participate in the league.
The Indian Government didn’t say anything about allowing or barring Pakistani players. I think the league should have sought clarity on this issue which it probably didn’t, because I didn’t see any statement from a government official on this issue. It’s sad that they made the PCB spend so much time and effort on getting its players’ documents in order and then do this, but there isn’t much anyone can do about it. Hopefully people will learn to move on, but that’s what we’ve been hoping for for decades.
Mahek
If IPL authorities had taken the NOC from Indian government then what was there left to make the franchise owners skeptical of the availability of Pakistan players they already had the NOC from Pakistan government. You don’t need spies to understand this much you just need common sense.
We both know if reciprocal sanctions are placed who will lose.
Gee you guys must have some really good spies in the Indian Government to know what’s going on behind the scenes. Just so you know, India imports a lot of stuff from Pakistan even now.
I thought it was callous on the part of the league and the owners to include Pakistani players and not pick a single one of them. Clearly there were some really good players on offer and the league will be poorer without them. But let’s not make no bones about what the players were in this for. They missed out on a big payday and that hurts just as much as their ego. But to call this a conspiracy to marginalise, snub, belittle, humiliate Pakistan is stretching it.
Jonathan
No that Visa dead line was extended, now they all had Visas.
They are just playing mind games its just that they want to stretch these unannounced sanctions as long as they can because they know once they announced it as an official policy they will get slaped with reciprocal sanctions by Pakistan.
Our players missed the 2nd edition even then PCB and the government allowed them to play in SA. Sialkot Stallions was never allowed to compete in the challenger trophy citing similar excuses and now after all the hassel they are simply saying the franchise owners are not sure about the availability of the players. Well PCB took the NOC’s from Pakistan sports ministry it was BCCI’s responsibility to get NOC’s from the Indian government nobody knows if they got it or not and if they did get NOC from Indian government then why the franchise owners were skeptical of the availability of Pakistani players, it’s only that the Indian government didn’t wanted to announce it’s policy and just used the franchises to implement it.
Well thats a slap in the face of every Indian fan whose only argument for Pakistan players being banned from the IPL was that “your government didn’t want them to play”. Now the truth of who really doesnt want us to play is out.
This on cricinfo was the most telling bit:
“Though the players – including proven Twenty20 performers Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Gul and emerging talent Mohammed Aamer and Umar Akmal – had been given the go-ahead from the Pakistan government, franchises were said to be wary over whether the strained relations with India would affect their ability to get visas.
However, the inclusion of Pakistani players in the IPL’s final auction list, released on January 6, was on the basis of specific requests received from the franchises – every player on that list had to be officially sought by at least one franchise. It is not clear what changed in the franchises’ thinking within two weeks.”
Wasim, isn’t the problem that they didn’t get visas? (Not to say that what they did do to get assurance from PCB and clearance wasn’t a lot of effort if noone was going to be interested – that’s a fair point.)
Apart from that, I don’t understand why you say that the franchises “knew something” when they are simply saying they aren’t sure. Neither the Indian or Pakistani governments are particularly consistent or even predictable in these matters!
Jonathan
They seem strange to you because you are an outsider and are not fully aware of the whole dynamics.
What made the franchise not interested?
According to them they were not sure of the availability of the players.
There was no problem of availability from the Pakistani side, so it has to be on the Indian side.
Why were the Pakistanis not made aware of that, obviously the franchises knew something which was not conveyed to PCB or the players.
And if they knew that there might experience some sanctions from the Indian government then why they showed interest in the players in the first place, why they made them go through all those pains of getting Visa’s and NOC’s and rushed them by giving them dead lines.
And if Indian Government has an unspoken policy against sports relations with Pakistan which they have implemented through the non interest of the franchises then why we should not reciprocate.
Isn’t it a bit unfair to portray the lack of interest from franchises as players “not being allowed” to play? Be upset with the teams if you think their decisions were poor, possibly even boycott Indian products if you can show that there is broader involvement, but comparing it with “sanctions” seems quite strange to this outsider.