Wasim Akram disappointed over Pakistani players being ignored from glamorous IPL
Pakistan cricket team is famous for their T20 abilities. They have proved at all the levels that they can beat any side in this format. Pakistan is the only team to play two finals and a semi final in three Twenty20 world cups in cricketing history. Pakistan
was runner up in the first Twenty20 world cup and lost to Team India in a crunchy final. In the next world cup Pakistan managed to defeat the chokers, South Africa in the finals in England. IPL is biggest league for the Twenty20 matches and because of the
political scenario; Pakistani players are not included for the auction.
Wasim Akram is clearly disappointed about Pakistani players being ignored for IPL. It is the second consecutive year that these players are not selected. IPL is a cash rich Twenty20 tournament and ignoring Pakistan players is sheer nonsense. Wasim Akram
is sure that the Pakistani team has the most talented cricketers in the shortest format and IPL will lose its glory without quality stars. For the IPL in this year, 416 players are going to be auctioned from all around the cricketing nations but not from Pakistan.
Akram said,
“There is little doubt about the popularity of Pakistani cricketers in Twenty20 cricket. That is why I believe that the IPL will certainly miss exciting players like Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq.”
Apart from the duo Wasim named, there are many others that performed consistently for Pakistan in Twenty20 internationals. Umar Gul has taken the most wickets in this layout and players like Shoaib Akhtar can pull a lot of crowd to help the IPL cause.
The team is ranked number one in Twenty20 set-up and they certainly deserve their appreciation in the IPL event. Last year, the excuse not to recognize Pakistani players, was the security reason after Mumbai attacks. The IPL show runners gave a different
aspect to the scenario and said that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did not confirm the availability of Pakistan players for the glamorous tournament. Wasim Akram, clearly disappointed with this issue commented,
“There was obviously a lack of communication but PCB should have initiated and pushed for the inclusion of its players in the event. Their failure shows a lack of vision among the board officials.”
aadmin is a contributor at SportQA. We are committed to providing well-researched, accurate, and valuable content to our readers.