India issues visa to Pakistani players for IPL

Pakistan's four players - Sohail Tanvir, Abdul Razzaq, Misbah-ul Haq and Kamran Akmal have been cleared by the Indian Home Ministry of External Affairs, which mean the quartet who already have existing contracts with IPL franchises will now able to participate in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament in India.

The Indian High Commission in Islamabad yesterday said that the visa applications of four Pakistan cricketers were being processed. Three of them were being processed in Wellington, New Zealand, where the Pakistan team is currently on tour. Those were thought to be Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal. The other being processed in Pakistan is Sohail Tanvir.

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, had ruled out the participation of Pakistan players after they failed to obtain visas by December 7, the deadline set by the IPL itself and Pakistani players looked to have missed out on the upcoming edition of the lucrative league because the visa deadline had passed while their applications were still being processed.

The High Commission further added in a media release that it was never advised about any deadlines for issuing visas to Pakistan players, either by the IPL organizing committee or the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board).

Earlier this week the Pakistan Federal Interior Ministry has given the clearance to their national cricketers, and PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt also hopeful for Pakistani players participating in the 2010 IPL.

Butt believed the deadline may be put back yet again, after two previous extensions. “Give us a day or two and everything will be settled down,” Butt told AP. “I can only say this much at the moment, that we are hopeful of Pakistan players’ participation in next year’s IPL.”

The the third edition of the lucrative T20 league will be played in India in March-April after Pakistani cricketers took part in the IPL's inaugural season in April-May 2008, but were denied permission by Pakistan government to play in the second edition earlier this year due to growing political tensions with India.

But Pakistani players' participation were again messed up despite the 2009 tournament was shifted to South Africa from India in April-May when the Indian government said it could not guarantee adequate security because the event clashed with general elections. IPL organizer ruled out their[Pakistani players] participation by saying that they have finalised all the squads and therefore cant accommodate more in further.

© Cricdb