The third IPL auction took place just a couple of days back, and, as I had said, a lot of controversial stuff went all throughout the proceedings – the biggest being the snub to the Pakistan players. All saw that the Pakistan players were bade by none of the teams. Well, well, Pakistan players and government was not able to easily stomach this part and hence they started retaliating a.s.a.p. Things turned ugly soon as ministers, former legends and people started blaming the Indian government for the snub.

"I have phoned the sports minister of India and recorded a protest over the unjust and discriminatory treatment meted out to the Pakistani cricketers," said the Pakistan sports minister to AFP, Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani. This was the first comment from the Pakistan-end made on January 19, 2010, a bit later after the auction. But, this comment was just not required. I don’t think that the minister had to get involved, as IPL is a private body, not even governed by the BCCI (Board of control for cricket in India). Hence, the first statement itself turned as an ‘over-statement’. Shahid Afridi, Pakistan T20 Captain quoted, “The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country. We are the Twenty20 world champions and for me the attitude of the franchises was disappointing. I feel bad for the Indian people who, I am sure, wanted to see us play in the IPL this year.” Ofcourse, Indian people and me-myself, a cricket freak, was disappointed, but not thinking about the rules of the IPL governing council and blaming was absolute applesauce.

Taking account of these statements, IPL chairman, Lalit Modi, felt that unavailability of Pakistan players was the main reason of the franchises for the snub. Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood actress and co-owner of Rajasthan Royals too echoed Modi’s words. Ness Wadia, co-owner of Kings Xi Punjab felt that the players weren’t ignored purposely and felt the lack of slots (only 13 available from 67 players) was the culprit.

On January 21, Indian government came up with the reply to Pak government and distanced itself from IPL. MS Gill, the Indian sports minister said, “IPL is not only a cricket league but it is also a commercial enterprise and the government of India and the sports ministry has nothing to do with them. “ Gill’s statement came out to be a reply to the comments by Pakistan sports minister earlier. Personally speaking, Gill was right on his point. Indian government has no investments, no stakes, no part to play in the IPL and hence blaming the Government was like stupidity. External affairs minister of India, SM Krishna later reverberate Gill’s comments quoting, "Government has nothing to do with IPL, on selection of players and various exercises that are connected with it. So, Pakistan will have to draw a line between where Government of India is connected and where Government of India is an actor.” He added that all seventeen players that required Indian visas were given clearance and hence Government played their part and absence of players was just a commercial part of the tournament.

"Firstly, we have to recognise there were only 11 available slots, including the vacancies arising out of injuries, and as many as 66 foreign players to pick from. There were 55 cricketers who must have been disappointed with the auction. The differing needs of the franchises and availability of the players played a large role in which the teams bid for,” said N Srinivasan, the president of BCCI and the owner of Chennai Super Kings. Lalit Modi too added that there “was no preconceived conspiracy to leave Pakistani players."

This ugly nature of handling issues lead to anger amongst people of Pakistan. As an aftermath, Pakistan ministries and broadcasters have decided not to telecast IPL matches. One such story did also state that Pakistan won’t broadcast Bollywood movies, how silly! Furthermore, Pakistan National Kabaddi (a sport in the sub-continent) which was scheduled for five games from Jan 26 in India cancelled their tour!  

After the atrocious behavior of Pakistan, today, Shilpa Shetty quoted, "I don't owe any explanation. We are not a small country and the decision was not a contrived one. There is nothing bigger than cricket but everything is getting murky, I am very hurt and there have been hate mails also. We have lost some of the greatest players in the world, but why doesn't anyone talk about Australia, England and so many others who were not picked in the auction?"

Well, after all this nonsense, as I feel, today Pakistan board (PCB) registered a complain with the ICC regarding the exclusion of all 11 Pakistani players from the IPL. Ijaz Butt, PCB chairman said, “We will be lodging a complaint with the ICC and I will personally table this issue at the next meeting of the ICC executive board on February 10." Since the IPL is a domestic tournament, it is outside the ICC's purview and so it is unlikely cricket's ruling body will be able to do much about it, but the matter continues to rage on in Pakistan.

Whatever it may be, past couple of days have been too tensed for the neighbouring countries and can lead to more outrage further. Let’s hope for the best for Indo-Pak ties and start scheduling our timings so as to enjoy the IPL 3.0, as its been called these days!