Daily Times

Sir: Despite remarkable presentation by the Pakistani players in the first edition of IPL, they are once again abandoned in the IPL edition five of 2012. The performance by the Pakistani players outshone the performance of the rest of the players, which, as expected, led to the emergence of resentment among the board members of the IPL. The explanation given by the commissioner of the IPL for not including Pakistan was that Pakistani players are accessible via auction but it is exclusively up to the franchise whether to pay money for them or not. This was a failed attempt to cover up their discriminatory stance against Pakistani players that may be due to their own insecurities.

Recently, in the fifth edition of the IPL, Azhar Mahmood was ‘purchased’ for $ 200,000 by Kings XI Punjab after receiving a British passport. It clearly points to the fact that a cricket player with a Pakistani green passport cannot enter the door of the Indian Premier League.

Ravindra Jadeja, who cannot match the proficiency of players like Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, was ‘sold’ for $ 2 million. It is very evident that the IPL does not want Pakistani players to be a part of this league as it would lead to a shift in focus from the Indian players to our outstanding Pakistani cricket players.

YUMNA RAFI

Karachi