On a Saturday afternoon, listening to the beautiful song "Sajda" from the movie 'My name is Khan' and with SRK in my mind, the recent IPL issues just flashed around my eyes and I was forced to think about it. Is the situation really so bad that we can't ensure full proof security to the Pakistani players when they will play on Indian grounds or whether Is it a very smart and diplomatic move by the Cricket Board and the Team owners to keep Pakistan away from enjoying the luxuries of IPL because their Govt. is not putting any efforts in dealing with the growing terrorism.
I happened to see the recent interview of SRK on NDTV and apparently he was very upset on the non-inclusion of Pakistani players in IPL teams. And I think that his concern holds true as far as a team owner is concerned. He was very keen on taking Razzaq for KKR.As a business man he lost out on few of the great players of T20 cricket, coming from a team who is in fact the present T20 world champion. He said he also understands that there are issues between the two countries which needs to be sorted out well, and only after some good talks, this issue can be resolved.
With IPL round the corner, we are expecting a big extravaganza and much more thrill than last time. But will this fiasco affect the tournament as such? Or will it affect the future Indo-Pak cricketing ties? Pak is holding Indian Cricket Board responsible for this as no one interfered on this issue. I think this actually is a very strategic move as no one can point finger at anybody for the whole drama. Team Owners say that they cannot invest money on any player who may not play the whole tournament or who may not even come due to Visa Issues from his own country and the Cricket Board says that they can't do anything as IPL is a private body and it is a decision of the Team owners.
This whole episode has definitely caused some damage to everyone, be it the franchisee or the sponsors. But I think the biggest losers are the Pak players who will miss out on a golden opportunity of playing in IPL, making money, and getting noticed on the cricketing world arena. Hope peace prevails soon!!! Enjoy IPL! Starting 12 Mar 2010!
