IPL teams were united in move to shun Pak players

[jaunty]

Came across an article which seems to make sense. Basically he is saying that the franchises have some genuine concerns which cannot be ignored after all it's their business, but it could have been done in a better, more dignified way.

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravk...es-damned-lies-and-other-such-balderdash.html

IPL3 auction: Lies, damned lies and other such balderdash


by Gaurav Kalra

Wealthy people amuse me. Usually hired hands do the spin-doctoring for them. But left to their own, the very rich and the famous are quite capable of being struck down with a serious case of foot-in-the-mouth. Plenty of that was in evidence at what was otherwise an entertaining IPL auction on Tuesday.

In one voice they pleaded ignorance to the well-orchestrated and pre-planned move to keep the Pakistanis out. "This talk that we decided together not to bid for Pakistani players is plain rubbish", claimed Mr Mallya through a pair of astonishingly bad shades. And one franchise owner went beyond bizarre, proclaiming there was "cricketing logic" in the decisions made. Parnell over Umar Gul? Roach over Aamer? Martyn over Umar Akmal? Get real guys, there is spin-doctoring and then there is downright idiocy.

IPL bosses and team owners have egg on their face because they are spreading a canard when they didn't have to. Here is what should have happened. Before the auction began the owners should have issued a statement with a text along the following lines:

"We, the team owners of the Indian Premier League regret to announce that none of us will be bidding for any Pakistani players at today's auction. We have arrived at this decision with a heavy heart and after detailed consultations amongst ourselves. Our decision has been conveyed to IPL chairman Lalit Modi and we have requested him to convey the same to the 11 players who were up for auction and the PCB. While we are in no doubt about the high calibre of the Pakistani players available, our hand has been forced by matters beyond ours and indeed the players' control. We fear that in the current political environment, the presence of Pakistani players may create unexpected security concerns which are best avoided at this time. We apologise to the players and the Pakistan Cricket Board for the inconvenience caused in getting security clearances from their foreign and interior ministries. We would also like to assure the players that the door is not closed on them for future editions of the IPL and it remains our sincere hope that fans will be able to enjoy their resplendent talent in this tournament's future editions".

I am sure the spin-doctors would phrase this better but you get the point. It would not allow for a situation to develop of the kind that exists now. Words such as 'conspiracy' and 'insult' wouldn't be used. The lure of a piece of the IPL cake would dissuade Pakistani players from saying what they are saying now. And there would be no need for Lalit Modi to appear on prime-time television and claim "he knew nothing about this". Come on Mr Modi, and here we thought not a pencil sharpener changes places in the corridors of the IPL unless you approve it!

If there was indeed "cricketing" logic in the decisions, do you wonder why cricketers weren't allowed to offer it? I would concede if Sourav Ganguly told me that he preferred an ageing and injury-prone Bond over an up and coming Aamer. Or if Anil Kumble told me Morgan was a better choice than Umar Akmal. Both were at the auction, why weren't they fielded? Instead, Shilpa Shetty told us how the man who won her Royals the first IPL, Sohail Tanvir wasn't really worth it. Instead they went for the might of Damien Martyn who is pushing 40 and has no T20 credentials to shore up their batting order. Preity Zinta went on about how Yusuf Abdullah was the bowler they needed and not perhaps Rana Naved ul Hasan who can bowl yorkers at will in the death overs. "Cricketing logic" doesn't become so just because it emerges from the mouths of the beautiful.

Modi screeched "Availability, availability, availability" is all that will matter in auctions going forward. And so the Australians weren't the hot picks this year as well. Point taken. But Australia are involved in a cricket series at the time. What are Pakistan doing? Nothing at all. Their players are available for all six weeks and can certainly play T20 cricket, they won the world cup, remember?

So it was the presumption that they might become "unavailable" that led to this decision. And since the team owners are pumping in the money, they have every right to put it where the investment returns. If they choose not to risk it, that's fine too. All we ask is that instead of skirting the issue and hiding behind shallow words, they let us know. What's that line about honesty being the best policy??!

The auction was about several happy stories. Kieron Pollard and Kemar Roach, made richer beyond dreams. The tag of "rebels" finally being shed from former ICL players with three of them landing contracts. Shilpa Shetty in a stunning blue dress, Preity Zinta's dimples still dazzling a room full of cynical men and the gorgeous Gayatri Reddy (where has she been?!!) of the Deccan Chargers empowered to raise the bid while nonchalantly chewing gum.

Ahhh, if only they wouldn't have taken us for fools!

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Came across an article which seems to make sense. Basically he is saying that the franchises have some genuine concerns which cannot be ignored after all it's their business, but it could have been done in a better, more dignified way.

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravk...es-damned-lies-and-other-such-balderdash.html

As pointed out before, if the Franchises had genuine concerns, they should never have shortlisted the Pakistani players and pursued them and asked for their inclusion in the auction.

Pakistani/India relations did not change in a matter of weeks, so why did availability become an issue only on auction day and why pursue the Pakistani players just a few weeks ago?

One other thing to be considered here is that the IPL is an ICC sanctioned league, and I doubt the ICC could continue to support a league that actively discriminated against players from a particular race, religion or nationality.

South Africa was sanctioned because of its racist policies, so this underhanded approach by the IPL to first actively pursue Pakistani players and ask for them to participate in the auction and then snub them on the basis of extremely poor excuses may have been done to avoid potential repercussions from the ICC for discrimination.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Posted similar excerpts yesterday and here is one again:

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.

"The IPL had given us the mandate to get permission from our foreign office, to obtain other clearances and to finalise visas," Butt said. "We did all this, but it is a surprise that none of them have been taken at the auction.

Ijaz Butt 'highly disappointed' by IPL cold shoulder | Cricket News | Indian Premier League 2010 | Cricinfo.com

The highlighted portion completely debunks the Indian excuses of 'availability'.

 

[Choppers]

IPL teams were united in move to shun Pak players

Govt Failed To Give Security Guarantee
Indranil Basu | TNN

New Delhi: What was suspected after Tuesday’s auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is now confirmed—there was indeed a consensus among the team franchisees that none of them would bid for Pakistani players.

Underlying this consensus was ambiguous signals from the officialdom. Union sports minister M S Gill went on record on Wednesday insisting that neither his ministry nor the government had in any way nudged IPL teams to treat Pakistani players as untouchables. However, sources in the board gave TOI details of what had transpired in the run-up to the auction, which suggest a more nuanced reality.

According to the sources, BCCI had initially told the franchisees that they could bid for Pakistani players and treat them like cricketers from any other part of the world. Around mid-December, BCCI had also assured the teams that it would chip in with help for visas and other diplomatic clearances from the government.

However, when the team owners asked the board “what guarantee will the franchisees have’’, the board spoke to some government officials in the last week of December and reverted with the message that the government—understandably—couldn’t give “any guarantee’’.

PAK MPS CANCEL VISIT

A Pakistani parliamentary delegation will not visit India as scheduled, Speaker Fehmida Mirza announced after MPs claimed a “conspiracy” against Pakistani cricketers


PML-N CRIES BOYCOTT

Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif’s PML(N) said its MPs would boycott any official visit to New Delhi and called for an immediate ban on screening Indian movies in Pakistan

Protesters burn an effigy of IPL commissioner Lalit Modi in Lahore

 

[qsaark]

Well, at least I was never in the favor of Pakistani players playing IPL. County cricket was not enough that they also want to play IPL? Our players (I cant speak for players from other countries) have transformed from cricket players into money making machines. In order to make money, they are over-playing, which is severely affecting their fitness and performance. When they have to play international events, they suck, and fitness due to over-playing is is one of the problems among many others. I really see a blessing in disguise in this whole thing. I hope our players take this as a positive move and try to fix their fitness and performance issues.

 

[Goodperson]

IPL is purely commercial run by businessmen and business houses they would not like to take the risk as it happened in IPL 2 when Pakistan banned its players from playing in IPL and this time Pakistan players missed Dec 7 Deadline. Lot of the IPL matches will be played in Mumbai, local political are against Pakistan especially after Mumbai attacks. if Pakistani player is unavailable due to tensions then its the franchises which will be looser. Nobody including GOI/GOP, BCCI/PCB can guarantee availability of players, Its logical for business houses in not taking risks even for the sake of relationship with Pakistani players. (IPL is for players only not country)

 

[Choppers]

Inside story: All IPL teams agreed to shun Pak players

NEW DELHI: What was suspected after Tuesday’s auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is now confirmed - there was indeed a consensus among the team franchisees that none of them would bid for the Pakistani players.

Underlying this consensus were ambiguous signals from officialdom. Union sports minister MS Gill went on record on Wednesday insisting that neither his ministry nor the government had in any way nudged IPL teams to treat Pakistani players as untouchables. However, sources in the Indian cricket board (BCCI) gave TOI details of what transpired in the run-up to the auction, which suggest a more nuanced reality.

According to the sources, the BCCI initially told the franchisees that they could bid for Pakistani players and treat them just like cricketers from any other part of the world. Around the middle of December, the board also assured the teams that it would chip in with help for visas and other diplomatic clearances from the government.

However, when team owners asked the board "what guarantee will the franchisees have?", the board spoke to some government officials in the last week of December and reverted with the message that the government - understandably - couldn’t give "any guarantee". The prospects of possible terror attacks clearly contributed to this message.

Hence the IPL teams ignored the Pakistan players in auction as there was "no guarantee" from the government that these players would get visas and other clearances.

Also adding to the jitters of the IPL teams were apprehensions of possible disruption of IPL matches by parties like the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena in the event of Pakistani players participating. With Mumbai slated to host a major chunk of IPL matches in the forthcoming season - including seven home matches of the Mumbai Indians in the league and some knock-out matches - this became a major concern.

In fact, team managements said they were already getting calls from Australian players asking how seriously they should treat the threat by the Shiv Sena that it would not allow Australians to play in India in retaliation for the racist attacks on Indians Down Under.

"Security is a huge factor and it’s only the team owners who will have to take up the responsibility. BCCI is not responsible for internal security in the IPL. The board had asked the government if the Pakistanis would be safe in a place like Mumbai. The answer wasn’t too convincing with a senior state government functionary pointing out that barely a year had elapsed since the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai," a BCCI insider told TOI on Wednesday.

"There was no direction from the board. The indication from the board was that the Pakistani players are shortlisted and you guys can bid for them. But they may not be welcomed in a place like Mumbai," a team official added. That, it appears, was enough to spook the franchisees into steering clear of Pakistani players.

The reputation of some of the Pakistani cricketers who had participated in the first season of the IPL in 2008 didn’t help either. The Delhi Daredevils were put off by Mohd Asif’s antics, while Shahid Afridi did not have a great relationship with Deccan Chargers.

The sources also said the ‘boycott’ of Pakistani players was likely to continue for similar reasons till such time as India and Pakistan resume bilateral cricketing ties. In other words, despite the homilies often trotted out about separating sports and politics, this is one case where politics will remain a determining factor.

 

[Choppers]

No Pakistani in IPL is a matter of shame

Avijit Ghosh

20 January 2010, 04:53 PM IST

Pakistan are the current T20 world champions. Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Mohammed Aamer, Saeed Ajmal and company played some enthralling cricket to claim the trophy last year. Since then, Pakistan have seen another exciting batsman emerge on the horizon: Umar Akmal. Therefore, it defies logic that nobody wanted to buy the 11 Pakistani players in the IPL 3 auction on Tuesday.

What's the reason? Let us go through what has been proffered by the men and women involved with IPL. Some team owners have said that the Pakistani players had a problem of availability during the period. That's nonsense. Unlike the top Aussie players, they are available for the entire duration. In fact, West Indian Kemar Roach, a Deccan Chargers buy, will miss the first two games. That's because the Zimbabwe tour of West Indies gets over on March 14 while IPL 3 begins on March 12. The second Deccan Chargers game will be held on March 14.

Another gentleman was heard mouthing that the Pakistanis were not chosen because this was a short auction. There were too few players to be bought, he said. This logic doesn't hold either. The truth is that the owners spent sums as high as $720,000 and $610,000 for the likes of Parnell and Roach, while ignoring Aamer and Gul. Are we saying that the former two are better bowlers than Aamer (who is also emerging as a handy bat) and Gul? Or that the Pakistanis are not even worth $100,000? And have we forgotten that Afridi was the man of the series in the T20 World Cup 2009.

One logic being offered is that franchisees were not keen to have Pakistani players because there is an element of uncertainty involving them. Simply put, the relationship between the two countries is already edgy and could always get worse. In that case, the Pakistani players might go back. So why take the trouble?

Even this argument is specious. Sure, nobody would want to invest a huge amount in a 'risky' player. But then isn't investing over $750,000 in Keiron Pollard any less risky? What's the guarantee he will succeed? What about investing $750,000-plus in Bond, once a great bowler, now extremely injury prone. Let us not forget he's currently injured too. Besides, he is 30-plus and certainly not as quick as he used to be. Surely investing $300,000 or whatever in Mohammed Aamer would have been less risky - even though nobody can ever rule out problems in relations between the two countries. In a squad of 20-plus players, surely that was worth the risk.

Undeniably this is a shameful episode in Indian cricket history. And if it is a question of politics, then Indian authorities should have been upfront and open about it. Lalit Modi should at least say sorry to the Pakistani players. That's only in the fitness of things. It would be great if those who are proactive about peace in the Indian government ensure that Pakistani players are able to play in IPL 3.

Most of the current Australian players will be missing out on IPL 3 due to international assignments. Now, if we don't have any player from the champion T20 side in the world, then IPL 3 will indeed be vastly devalued.

Without the Pakistani players, Modi and company can still have the spectacle. But for me, IPL 3 will be nothing more than a bonfire of corporate vanities.

Taken From Blog

 

[Gin ka Pakistan]

Good, now Pakistani team will do well in 20/20 with Australia else it will be double shame for them.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

I think its a GOOD move for Pakistan Cricket because 20/20 was /is killing our cricket

We play 3 test games, which is really the best format of the game
I like 20/20 but I think real cricket is Test & One Day International

Pakistani Board, should have know better to trust and side with Indian board.

When we had last world cup in India/Pakistan what happed final was played in India

Also - This time we were knocked out of being hosts for world cup due to Indian board, and our players want to go play in India

They helped Indian league generate revenue teams like Lahore Badshah and others.....while I love the friendly aspect

Indians did what they always do - when their business take off they backstab Pakistani players (Again its based on actions of Indian gov/Board)

Pakistan's golden generation in Cricket Test/One was when we had Imran Khan + Javaid Miandad , and others they played 5 Test series and routinely made 500+ score and also our Bowling was great we can bowl out other teams easily

Now , we can't even bowl out teams like Australia their average players end up making 150-200 runs

If Pakistani players are shunned , Pakistani players should join British T20 initiatives and bycott India IPL and also their Champions' league

Dealing with British/Australian cricket teams is ideal for betterment of our cricket - also pitches in India are dead - so even a grad mother can make a 100 rus inning on em

 

[qsaark]

Dealing with British/Australian cricket teams is ideal for betterment of our cricket - also pitches in India are dead - so even a grad mother can make a 100 rus inning on em

With these two lines, you summed up all. I wish if Pakistani players could also understand this simple yet powerful logic.

 

[Choppers]

I think its a GOOD move for Pakistan Cricket because 20/20 was /is killing our cricket

We play 3 test games, which is really the best format of the game
I like 20/20 but I think real cricket is Test & One Day International

...................

If Pakistani players are shunned , Pakistani players should join British T20 initiatives and bycott India IPL and also their Champions' league

First you said that test and ODI are real formats and pakistan shound't play in IPL T20.Then you say that they should participate in British T20.

Make up your mind dude or its just your India hatred coming into play

 

[Goodperson]

But why give so much importance to IPL?

 

[Vassnti]

tests 20/20 one days IPL i wonder that our teams are spreading them selves to thin.

I never did like the idea of IPL i still have an old fashioned view of cricket as the gentlemans game not some trashy money making venture like all other sports have become. Sad though that politics has become involved as well, its harldy "international" if you leave out Pakistan.

 

[DesiGuy]

I personally Hate IPL matches.


Indian politics should not play it's dirty game in cricket now and it goes same for others as well.