India rules out Pakistan players in IPL 2010

Pakistani cricketers will not feature in IPL 2010 as their board has failed to obtain their visas before the deadline for confirmation of participation, the leagues commissioner, Lalit Modi, has said. The franchises will now have to look for replacements for the Pakistan players they had signed, he said. We have been informed by the PCB that they have not been able to obtain the visas as of now. So we are not able to extend the deadline, Modi told. Unfortunately, the Pakistani players are out and they will not be allowed to take part in the next IPL because we are handicapped by the fact that the exchange window is the day after tomorrow. We are informing the teams that they now can go for the replacement of the Pakistani players, he told. However officials in Pakistan are emphatic their side of the deal was done. The players have applied for visas but the clearance hasnt come from the Indian side. The ball is not in our court, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, said. Wasim Bari, the PCBs chief operating officer told the board was in possession of all necessary NoCs and clearance letters from the Pakistan side but had not been given visas. From our side everything was done and in order. Players had received invitation letters from the franchises as well, he said. Ten Pakistani players who took part in the first IPL include Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Misbaul Haq, Younas Khan, Kamran Akmal, Suhail Tanveer, Umer Gul, Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Hafeez and Umer Gul.