No takers for Pakistani players

Cricket fans will miss the presence of Pakistani cricket players in the IPL-3 because there were no takers for them at the auction organised by IPL. No franchisee made bid for any Pakistani players, though they are Twenty 20 reigning world champion. Even the prolific batsman and captain of Pakistani Twenty20 team Shahid Afridi did not sale at the IPL auction. The IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi ascribed the reason behind not making any bid for Pakistani players by the Franchisee was the uncertainty over their availability and the proprietor of Rajashthan Royals also showed their inability to bid for Pakistani Players was their uncertainty over availability. But the Pakistani captain of the reigning world champion Shahid Afridi and his other teammates see more into their discard at the auction and holds the view that because of the pressure of the Indian government on franchisee to not bid for Pakistani players, the they refrained from making any bid for them. IPL is being run by the franchisees who have their business interest in it. They are only guided by their business interest.The franchisees want easy availability of the players and they like to avoid any risk to damage their business. They are no more ready to spend USD seven or eight million for someone who would not be available for the tournament. It not only exhausts their purse but also wastes slots.Franchisees want only those players who would be available for the tournament. They are spending money and they want to get the results.As far as the chill persisting in the Indo-Pak relation is concerned, it also can not be overlooked altogether.In all, eleven Pakistani players, including Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir, who were part of the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL), were in the auction list. The fiery West Indies allrounder Pollard has proved to be the costliest player at the auction of IPL-3. He has also happened to be drawing the highest bid so far in the history of IPL. The question here arises that if the franchisees have shown no interest in bidding for any one of the 11 Pakistani cricket players, what government can do. They have their business interest and they can not afford to involve themselves in the paraphernalia of Visas for the players with the government. But as far as the likening of the cricket fans is concerned, it will be decided when the matches during IPL-3 get underway. The cricket fans will be the best judge to decide whether the move of Franchisees were proper or not. The Pakistani Cricket Control Board and the cricket players should not take it as their prestige issue. Because franchisees are free to purchase players who could attract huge crowd ,play well and yield maximum money for them.