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.

With the franchises towing the same ‘non-availability’ line, it was obvious that the advice they received must of come from one source in that it was the same across the board. Clearly, all the franchises were in cahoots with one another and it was a collective and pre-planned shunning of the Pakistani players, even though this is being denied. If you are not convinced, are you telling me not one of the franchises would have been tempted by even a single bid for Afridi, Rana, Aamer or Akmal? Instead, when the names of these World Champions were read out at auction, there was complete silence in the room. It was so quiet that you could almost hear the little synaptic kerchings in Lalit Modi’s brain. It would be interesting to find out who it was that advised the franchises to make this change in policy and take this stance after they had no problem in requesting the players for auction initially.

Would the Indian crowds have turned on Pakistan's players?

When Pakistan’s players did not take part in IPLII, the argument from many IPL supporters was that it was the Pakistan government that banned the players from playing so the IPL was helpless. We argued then that even if our government had allowed the players to travel, they would have been stopped from playing somehow and that the Pakistan government merely made the decision easier for Lalit Modi. From what has happened this time around, it is clear that our belief was true.

The fact of the matter is, as soon as the time to organise IPLIII came around, those in the corridors of power began to think of ways in which to prevent Pakistan players from playing for whatever reason. The morally right thing to do would have been to begin to find ways of including them but morality isn’t something Lalit Modi will be known for I’m afraid. They waited until the end, hoping that Pakistan would prevent its players from travelling just like in IPLII, and making the decision easier for Modi and his cronies. But this time, both the PCB and the Pakistan government allowed the players to travel AND the franchises requested eleven of them to go under the hammer. As a result, something had to be done to stop them at auction and it quite clearly was.

I couldn’t care less if our players did not participate in that tournament and I certainly would not have minded had they been asked in good time, not to apply. But the immoral and degrading manner in which they were snubbed shows no class at all.

So, will the powers that be apply the same logic in the World Cup? Maybe they’ll do what they did here and leave it to the last minute hoping that Pakistan don’t make the final. But if we do make it to the final, the outcome of whether we are allowed to play will truly show us who governs world cricket.