IPL's Pakistan snub was avoidable
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
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Gaurav Kalra, writing on Cricketnext.com, says the IPL franchises should have expressed their reluctance to bid for Pakistan cricketers upfront, instead of resorting to weak cricketing logic to justify their decision.
So it was the presumption that they might become "unavailable" led to this decision. And since the team owners are pumping in the money, they have every right to put it where the investment returns. If they choose not to risk it, that's fine too. All we ask is that instead of skirting the issue and hiding behind shallow words, they let us know. What's that line about honesty being the best policy??!
The PCB should have seen this coming, says Nauman Niaz in Pakistan's Daily Times. India's attempts at dominating cricket's financial market were evident in some of their previous actions, he says, and it is now up to the PCB to rebuild Pakistan's cricket by delivering a better deal to its cricketers.
Pakistan have proved a competitive outfit and performed admirably despite the absence of international cricket in their country in the aftermath of the Lahore attacks, and their exclusion from the IPL is just plain wrong, writes Kevin McCallum in the Independent Online.
Rajesh Kalra is one of the few journalists defending the move to not pick the Pakistan players. He writes on his blog in the Times of India:
We all know the fan following in the current scenario is fickle. Fans may adore someone, but one brutal attack in Kashmir or elsewhere will change the situation diametrically in a jiffy. Now, if I am a franchisee who has invested in a Pakistani player, why would I risk it? And it is not just risking the franchisee’s reputation, it is even risking the safety of players from all over the world, on the ground, in the hotel where they stay and while they travel. Why would a franchisee invest heavily in a great player if the wrongdoings by his country somewhere works against his interest? The franchisee, after all is investing in these teams for brand building, not negative publicity.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo