The IPL 4 auctions are uncertain in terms of dates, but perhaps not as uncertain as Pakistan's participation in the IPL 4 2011 season.
saaed ajmal shahid afridi shoaib akhtar
Question marks hang over whether the IPL 4 auctions will take place on the scheduled date in January 2011. However, another matter that has been put on the back burner has been the subject matter of whether the Pakistan cricketers will be able to be a part of the IPL 2011 season.
Pakistan cricketers have had an unfavourable time with the IPL after the first season when the 26/11 put paid to their participation in the IPL 2 season over frosty Indo-Pak relations. And matters descended to a new low when the Pakistan cricketers were named in the IPL 3 auction list but were unanimously not picked by any of the IPL franchisees to suggest an obvious unwritten rule about the Pakistan cricketers' participation in the Indian domestic Twenty20 tournament.
It has led to much serious heartburn for some of the Pakistan cricketers who were eying a lucrative contract. However, with the recent events surrounding the Pakistan cricket team wherein three Pakistan cricketers - Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Salman Butt - are being investigated by the ICC Anti Corruption Unit over spot fixing allegations, early indications are that Pakistan cricketers must brace themselves once more for being snubbed.
Shahid Afridi had once commented that it was good for Pakistan to have missed the IPL. The Pakistan captain has also suggested that Pakistan cannot rely on India for support. However, there is going to be an entirely different angle to the Indo Pak story if the allegations will stand in the way of the return of the Pakistan cricketers to the cash rich IPL.
Amongst the many justifications for the Pakistan cricket allegations to surface in England was the fact that the Pakistan cricketers had been left out of the IPL and therefore, succumbing to the need to make money by hook or by crook. While that theory is still up in the air as also the verdict on the Pakistan cricketers, with the IPL is so much turmoil, it seems highly unlikely that they would want to attract more trouble. So, Pakistan, don't hold your breath. That seems to be the initial signal. Besides, there has been no real thawing of relations between the two nations with the fate of the 26/11 terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, still awaiting death by hanging.
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