IPL: Pakistani sports minister telephones Indian counterpart

Islamabad, Jan 19 (IANS) Disappointed over 11 Pakistani cricketers being ignored at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, Sports Minister Ejaz Jhakhrani Tuesday telephoned his Indian counterpart to lodge a protest but was informed that the government did not have a say in the matter.

Quoting sources, Online news agency said that Jhakhrani told Gill that it was “utterly disappointing that not a single Pakistani was auctioned for the cash lucrative IPL”, adding that “such decisions in the field of sports are contradictory and hard to understand”.

On his part, Gill made it clear to Jhakhrani that the Indian sports ministry had nothing to do with the IPL and that since it was a commercial venture, the government couldn’t interfere in the matter.

Talking to Online, Jhakhrani confirmed that he contacted his Indian counterpart and “shared his reservations with him thick and thin on the IPL thorny matter”.

The sports ministry would review the non-inclusion of Pakistani players “seriously and methodically”, he added.