Stani Army

If you go by the ‘logic’ that has prevented the IPL franchises from signing Pakistan players, then Pakistan would have to be excluded from the 2011 World Cup too, due to be held in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The 2011 fixtures were drawn up in such a way that Pakistan would play their group games in Sri Lanka, and would only have to play in India if

Lalit and his girls: The 'best' thing to happen to cricket since....football

they reach the final. But what if they do reach the final? Some would say that this is a big ‘what if’ but they’d be ignoring the recent big ‘what if’ which prevented Pakistan’s players from playing in IPLIII.

The reason given was that the franchises could not be certain of the availability of the Pakistani players. So what do they exactly mean by that? Well, the Pakistani players would have been free from international duty in that period so this cannot have been what was meant. May be the reason is the fear that half way through the tournament, something happens in one of the two countries which would strain diplomatic relationships and heighten civil tension, causing Pakistan to call back its players for fear of attack in India. A big ‘what if’ in my opinion.

The most tasteless part of this IPL snub was that the Pakistani players were given false hope and led along until the very last minute, literally. Why did the eight franchises request the eleven Pakistani players up for selection if their policy was not to pick players that were not certain of availability? Well it is clear that something happened inbetween the period that these players were requested by the franchises and the time of the auction, and this is the sinister side to this whole situation.

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I’m not sure if anyone else remembers reading cricinfo’s bulletin for the Super 8s match Pakistan played against New Zealand, but there were parts of it that made me wonder. It was written by Sidarth Monga who, in the past, has been accused by various fans of his obvious bias. Here it was in regards to Pakistan being able to recall Abdul Razzaq after the ICL cancelled his contract. Have a read of his bulletin and see what you make of it.

Sidarth Monga:

“How Pakistan would want to thank BCCI for the “amnesty” it accorded the ICL players.”

“Once the euphoria of this performance dies, Pakistan will want to thank the man returning to international cricket for allowing them to go ahead with their preferred bowling strategy.”

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Was Lalit Modi talking out of his backside recently when he was quoted as saying “Unfortunately, the Pakistan government won’t give them [Pakistan players] clearance to come to India, and since Saturday was our cut-off date, it’s not possible to have a team from Pakistan this year”. The PCB say they were not consulted or told about any deadlines so why has Pakistan been isolated from the Twenty20 Champions League and why did Modi not just tell the truth?

Some may argue that Pakistan had banned its players from travelling to India so Modi had no choice. The thing is that this was a decision made in regards to the IPL and could have been reviewed and indeed lifted had the PCB been contacted and asked its position in regards to the Champions League. It seems this did not happen. We cannot therefore be too critical of the PCB in regards to knowing what was happening as they were not brought into the fold at all. What we can be critical is of their weak response thus far.

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The Indian Cricket League has released 50 players who had wanted to participate in official cricket again. The complete list has not been made available as yet but is believed to include Rana Naved and Imran Nazir. No word on Yusuf as yet.

The ICL could have quite easily have refused the requests of the players who were under contract but have shown a gentle touch befitting this gentlemen’s game that the ICC, BCCI and other boards have lacked.

The PCB may now regret withdrawing the 3 ICL players it had included in its original World Twenty20 squad.

Still two years left until the 50 over format World Cup and the ICC has wasted no time in taking it away from Pakistan. Though it was probably on the cards, there was always a little ray of hope in the heart of the optimistic Pakistan cricket fan.

But was there any need to decide this early? For one, if terrorists were going to target the 2011 World Cup, the ICC has just told them not to bother planning for Pakistan but for the other three countries right?

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The ICCs deadline for submitting a provisional 30 man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup has arrived and the PCB has gone ahead and included some players involved with the ICL. The three players are Abdul Razzaq, Naved-ul-Hasan and Imran Nazir. With the tournament set to go ahead in June, this leaves about a couple of months for the ICC and the other world boards to come to an agreement in regards to the legitimacy of the Indian Cricket League. If this should not happen, Pakistan may end up carrying players they are not able to use.

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The Pakistan Cricket Board is inquiring again into the circumstances of the forfeited Test at The Oval in 2006. It is an inquiry without a clear purpose. The match is now recorded as a technical defeat but the result is an irrelevance.

Although it was a moment when Pakistan cricket fought its corner in the world of cricket politics, two consequences have caused immeasurable damage. First, the rift between Inzamam-ul Haq and Bob Woolmer became ever wider. Second, the controversy ushered in Naseem Ashraf’s disastrous reign as head of Pakistan cricket.

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After a quite resounding win for the Indians over Pakistan in the tri-series in Mirpur Bangladesh, one can’t help wondering whether we are seeing the effects of the IPL on Indian cricket already. There is no doubt that the Indian youngsters playing for their respective franchises would have benefited from the top international players they played with and against. Another thing they would have benefited from is the experience of being asked to perform when it matters in real match situations in front of large crowds something which net sessions just cannot provide.

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