The Pakistan squad has a fairly settled look to it in contrast to their opponents. Controversy continues to surround the absence of Chris Gayle after the opener opted to play in the Indian Premier League instead of the home tour.

Gayle insisted he was forced to make a decision after being ignored by selectors, and reacted angrily to remarks made by the WICB that it was “disappointed” with his decision.

“A group of players were selected for a training camp in Barbados, and I never got a call, nobody spoke to me, and I decided to leave it alone,” Gayle told KLAS Sports, a radio station in Jamaica.

“I continued my training programme, and I came to find out via the media that a Twenty20 squad was announced, and a one-day international squad was announced, and I was stunned when I saw a big headline in the newspapers, ‘Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul dropped’.”

While the West Indies continue their dispute in public, Pakistan will look to build on a successful turn out at the Cricket World Cup last month, and are counted as sports betting favourites for the T20 game following Gayle’s absence.

They will have to do something about their recent form in the shorter form of the game however, and will have the perfect opportunity to improve their record from one win in five to two in six this evening against a West Indies side without their big hitters.

Mohammad Salman is the squad’s only specialist keeper and will feature tonight, while Hammad Azam could be tested in the allrounder slot vacated by Abdul Razzaq.

On their last tour of the Caribbean, Pakistan were victorious in the one-day series before drawing the test series, and a similar return this time around would be counted as a success as a favourite based on sports bets has been difficult to establish.

With the prospect of winning their first ever test series in the West Indies on the horizon, a successful start to the tour with a T20 win could give the side the momentum it needs ahead of the test series which begins after the one-day series in May.

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.

The above view is strengthened by the fact that the IPL did nothing to try and reinstate the Pakistani players with their respective franchises when the tournament was moved to South Africa. Yes, it would have been difficult as the franchises had spent on other players and there was not much time. Yet no attempt to include them or even a suggestion was made. As for the time excuse, Modi was commended for organising a tournament in such a small space of time so that doesn’t hold much water.

Another reason to support the point is the exclusion of Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 Champions from the Champions League. Pakistan’s players were prevented from playing in the IPL by their government but before even asking them about the Champions League, or even talking to them about it, Modi came out and announced that the Pakistani team would not be participating. How he must regret that now. To not have the World Champions represented in the Champions League? Big mistake Lalit….big business mistake!

Pakistan becoming World Champions was great for Pakistan cricket, it was also a proverbial two fingers to the ICC, IPL and Lalit Modi. Shame on them.

In time, Lalit Modi will only be remembered as the businessman who was allowed to steal cricket’s chastity.

The opportunities, however, carry their own fascination – especially for Pakistan cricket fans. Importantly, a successful offshore IPL will ease Pakistan’s transition to a team of globetrotters. Furthermore, the PCB and IPL could consider reinstating Pakistan’s cricketers if the tournament is outside India. Is that too much too ask? Aren’t all nations victims of terrorism? Why should Pakistan’s players be penalised and prevented from participating in a purportedly global tournament? Don’t Pakistan’s cricketers require support from the international cricket community to help competitive international cricket to survive in Pakistan?

The IPL has an opportunity to show that cricket has the power to repair damaged national relationships, and that it will not be cowed by terrorism. Indeed, becoming the premier world competition is not simply a matter of financial muscle, it is also a matter of leading by impeccable example.

Published with the permission of Dr Kamran Abbasi. Also posted at cricinfo.com

The Pakistan foreign ministry has informed the sports ministry that it was not safe to send Pakistani players to participate in the second season of the IPL. Those already with franchises have been dropped whilst the five players that were due to go up for auction have been withdrawn.

Should the situation not change, Pakistan’s ICL players can expect to be told not to travel to India also once the ICL starts again. Questions regarding the inclusion of Pakistani players in the ICL after the Mumbai attacks arose last December when Kiran More, an ICL executive board member, told cricinfo that the participation of the Pakistani contingent was “not favourable”.

The loss to the IPL of the likes of Sohail Tanvir, who was the bowler of the tournament by far, and the loss of the Lahore Badshahs to the ICL, will be something not easily replaced.

The time has come for Pakistan cricket to close ranks. As is looking likely, the PCB will recognise the ICL (even though the players may not participate), they should then begin to form their own Twenty20 tournament comprising of its own players from the IPL and ICL, and invite cricketers from other countries by offering them good financial rewards. May be this is one way in which the revenue, retained from the postponed Champions Trophy, can be spent. It will be a positive step in trying to alleviate concerns about the security in the country, and a way of getting Pakistan cricket back on it’s feet.

The most obvious are the two currently in the 15-man squad playing against Sri Lanka, Sohail Khan and Yasir Arafat. Some may argue that they are not as express as Akhtar was but Umar Gul gets close enough anyhow and these two are not slow. The plus point for Arafat is that he is more than an accomplished batsmen also. Bowlers with the pace of Akhtar are rare so his replacement, I think, is more a question of their general or all-round talent and effect rather than the pace they bring. Of the left handed possibilities we have two, Samiullah Khan and Wahab Riaz. Abdur Rauf, another contracted pace bowler, is also a possibility but at 30 years old, age is not on his side.

Another thing to consider is the talent we have outcast in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) playing for the Lahore Badshahs. Noises coming from various corners suggest that it is only a matter of time before the ICL becomes recognised by the ICC. The PCB’s chairman Ijaz Butt recently said on the subject, “We don’t want our players to be banned because they have contracts with the ICL. The PCB has not directly banned the players, We have banned them under the ICC rules”. He went on, “The rules state that no tournament can be held without the home board’s permission and, in the case of the ICL, the Indian board does not recognise it as it runs its own league, the IPL”. Should the ICL become official and recognised, Pakistan would once again have the likes of Shabbir Ahmed, Abdur Razzaq, Mohammed Sami and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan to fill the place vacated by Akhtars possible departure.

On to the final possibility, Mohammad Asif. Currently in limbo, he is facing an inquiry into his detention in Dubai and a hearing in regards to his failed Indian Premier League (IPL) drugs test. There is an outside chance he would be cleared on both counts or may even serve just a short ban so will become available in the near future. If not, he may over take Shoaib Akhtar as the biggest waste of talent in Pakistan, if not world, cricket.

As for the Rawalpindi Express who was recently put up for trade by his IPL franchise, it looks like it’s a one way ticket to his last stop Bollywood.

When the Indian ODI squad was announced for this tri-series there must have been more than one or two players disappointed not to have made the squad and understandably so. From the players on view in the IPL, India could have quite easily put out three one day sides and still have been competitive with each. I’m certain that all the other cricketing boards are looking on with envy and must be putting plans into place for a piece of the pie. The only problem for them is that India got there first. The other boards will not be able to find the time in their calendars or find enough world class cricketers let alone compete with the financial clout of the BCCI. The only possible solution would be for the ICC to step in and request that the quota of youngsters in each IPL franchise should be made up of youngsters from other nations also. As it stands, India will be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the shorter forms of the game. It remains to be seen how the other Cricketing boards react if at all.

The same, thankfully, cannot be said about some of the top English players who have recently come out in the media saying that they have no need to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian Cricket League (ICL) as they are already adequately taken care of by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). What this shows is that if a board takes care of its top players financially (and in other ways) then the players would in return repay their faith.

Maybe it’s something the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) can look into since in the past and also more recently, its handing out of contracts has upset some of its top players. Recently, Danish Kaneria spoke out after being dropped from B to C in the PCB’s central contracts categories which are apparently based on performance. The PCBs argument was that Kaneria does not play both forms of the game so cannot be considered in the top two tiers. Kaneria’s argument, which seems valid, is that he’s long had aspirations to play in the one day side along with the test side but has never been given a reasonable opportunity. Differences such as these can tip a player to think of their livelihood and opt for opportunities that the Indian leagues provide.

There is no doubt that the IPL and ICL look very attractive but would they be worth sacrificing the bread and butter of our game for? In my opinion, only players on the brink of retirement or those languishing in the domestic leagues should consider playing in the Indian leagues. When you have players like Shane Bond jeopardising their international career to play in the leagues, it makes you wonder whether the cricketing boards are taking adequate care of the future of their top stars.

Boards have shown concern over the participation of their players in the leagues as there have long been worries about the packed international schedule and player fatigue. There are also incompatibly issues in regards to how the two tournaments would fit in to the current international calendar. Though the boards are right to show concern over the leagues, what have they actually done about it?

Maybe we need more current international players to give out the same kind of message as the English players or maybe we need more boards to have a good look at what they offer their players. Well done to the English players; well done to the ECB.