Though the BCCI permitted the bilateral series between the Indian and Pakistan teams, they have taken a rigid stance regarding the participation of Pakistani players in the sixth edition of the IPL. On November 21st, 2012 there was a meeting held between the BCCI and the IPL franchises. In that meeting BCCI had given clear instructions to the team owners that they are not supposed to purchase the services of Pakistani players for IPL. The BCCI governing council consists of many prominent personalities like Arun Jeitley, Anirudh Chaudhary, Ravi Shashtri, and Rajiv Shukla among others.
There are several reasons behind the negative attitude of the BCCI regarding the involvement of Pakistani players in the IPL. Players of the Pakistani Cricket team have been alleged of being involved in match fixing last year. Apart from this their records of misbehavior on and off the field and the high amount of money spent on providing them security has soured the BCCI’s attitude against them.
Recently the legendary pacer and former Pakistani Cricket Captain, Wasim Akram has requested the BCCI to let the Pakistani Cricketers participate in the IPL. He definitely understands the loss of Pakistani cricketers for being eliminated from the IPL which is one of the most cash rewarding cricket tournaments of the world. According to Akram the Pakistani players will be able to add a new level of excitement to the IPL matches.
Akram has said in a media statement that he believes that the players of his nation are capable of increasing the challenge of the game which will be beneficial for IPL itself. He also mentioned that politics should never be mixed with a sport like cricket as it is harmful for the career of the cricketers. After the very first season of the IPL the Pakistani players have been totally excluded from this tournament. Though many reasons have been used to justify this ban, the tension between the political authorities of both countries can be marked as the real reason behind this exclusion.
In the first edition of the IPL Pakistani cricketers like Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Sahid Afridi and Salamn Butt had taken part. In IPL six only the Pakistani umpires, coaches and commentators are taking part. No Pakistani cricketer has been invited to take part in this awaited and highly publicized game.
Akram has also told the media that he has recently signed a contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board for helping grooming pace bowlers and training them. He has also signed a deal with the cellular company Ufone for finding out new cricket talent from each part of the country. He is pleased to be of service to the Pakistani Cricket team and he will be organizing a cricket camp for the budding cricket talents, at Karachi, this month.