Woke up this morning and could not believe the news. Am disappointed on multiple levels:
I think it is a major loss to the IPL and the Indian public to not have Pak players like Afridi, Aamir, etc involved.
I know I may be in a minority here, but I do not believe the Indian public has a hate of all things Pakistani. Sure, emotions were at an all-time high after the terrorist attack on Mumbai when there was strong suspicion of involvement by the Pak state. But the events that have happened over the last year, and continue to happen, in Pakistan, have made it clear to most Indians that Pak is as much a victim of this as we are. For example, right after Nov 26, there was a large hue and cry about not letting Pak artists perform in India. All that has since more than died down, and singers like Atif Aslam are consistently ranked at the top of the charts. I think the same attitude extends to Pak cricketers, and comments from fringe political parties notwithstanding, Pak cricketers would have very popular in the IPL.
The IPL owners are only in this for profit. From a business sense, if the product you are selling is better with Pak players and acceptable to your customers, why wouldn’t you have them? Same logic that Bollywood producers use when they hire Pak artists. And I believe the IPL owners and the IPL did want to have the Pak players participate.
The idea that this exclusion was a decision based on talent is too laughable to even discuss. I also don’t believe this was just a case of each team making a rational risk-based decision on the Pak players based on perceived risk of them not getting a visa. Seems far too orchestrated for that. Find it hard to believe that if it were just the visa risk issue, without any outside interference, that some team wouldnt have punted just $100,000 on someone like Afridi on the off chance that his visa came through. This reeks of interference from above.
I believe it was the government stepping in behind the scenes and making it clear that they would not play ball. I question the value of this interference – does nothing but come across as a churlishly petty and spiteful, AND is completely inconsistent with other contacts we continue to have with Pak at multiple levels. If (for whatever reason), the Indian govt believed that it did not want to have relations with Pakistan, then they should announce this formally and implement it at all levels. And do it openly – that way you maximize the political mileage too. Not selectively, and not with this lack of transparency.
Finally, even assuming all of the above is true, I am disappointed at how Lalit Modi and the IPL handled this. As I said, I believe they were serious initially about including Pak players when the auction list was announced. Probably all the way up to the last day or so before the auction, which is when I think the govt decided to make its stand clear. What was within their control is their reaction to this. What they should have done is dealt with it in a more professional and up-front manner. Modi could have started the auction with a comment about the situation and explained the issue with the visas. Announced that as a consequence of this the Pak players were being taken off the list, and would not be available for the auction. This would have been the professional thing to do. Also more respectful and considerate. The way things played out, I don’t blame the Pak players for feeling insulted. I feel upset myself.
Like I said, very disappointing.