The withdrawal of Pakistan players from the Indian Premier League was seen as an eventuality waiting to happen by most of the franchises. And while the Pakistan foreign ministrys advice,quoting security reasons,to their players to stay away from India did not come as a bolt from the blue,consensus was that it would be a big blow to the game in the sub-continent that is scheduled to jointly host the 2011 World Cup. In the short term though,with the Season Two auction on Friday,they dont seem too perturbed. A top official with a franchise,who had been interacting with various other IPL decision-makers,said that the terror attacks in Mumbai and the subsequent mood in the country had made them skeptical about playing Pakistan players. It was tough to imagine how the crowds would react to a Pakistan player on the field. Many owners were in dilemma, he said. This feeling was evident from the final auction list announced on Monday. None of the five Pakistan players Yasir Hameed,Yasir Arafat,Asim Kamal,Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Hafeez on the original list of 114 players were among the 43 set to go under the hammer. The pruning of the list was done after taking into account the interest of the eight franchise owners. There were other indicators of the dwindling interest in Pakistan players. Deccan Chargers,who signed Shahid Afridi for $675,000,were keen to sell the all-rounder but there were no takers. Kolkata Knight Riders werent too keen on renewing Shoaib Akhtars $425,000 contract. Meanwhile,Delhi Daredevils were dealing with the ambiguity over their most expensive signing,Mohammad Asif,at $650,000,who was facing a dope inquiry. With Shoaib Malik ($500,000) not around for the second season either,Delhi go to Goa for the auctions with the biggest spending budget. Besides the $2 million that every franchise has,they now have an additional amount of $.1.15 million at their disposal. This will help us sign a big player even if the bidding gets hectic, said a Daredevils representative. The two others teams with extra cash at the auction are Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders. Royals with Sohail Tanvir,wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and batsman Younis Khan are the most affected team by the Pakistan governments decision. The Knight Riders will miss,apart from Akhtar,the second Pakistan pacer in their line-up,Umar Gul. Joy Bhattacharya,Kolkatas team director,spoke about the impact this will have on the team. Gul is a fine cricketer and we will miss him. But we were expecting something like this as it was in the air. We have a strategy for the auction, he said. But Bhattacharya said that he expected IPL to give them some options because of this development. Maybe weve an opportunity to sign replacement players, he said. Later,Lalit Modi gave the go ahead for the same. IPL officials and franchise representatives will be meeting on Tuesday to sort out these issues.
