Neighbour's Envy Owner's Pride

Absence of Pakistan players from IPL loss for both sides: Tanvir, 2008 Purple Cap winner

- FIROZ MIRZA @ Chennai

The inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 marked a watershed year for the T20 format. It showed the world a new way to play cricket, with commerce and entertainment freely mingling with the sport. It also witnessed the participation of Pakistan players in the league.

Because of political tensions, which escalated following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, players from across the border have not taken part in subsequent years.

The first season saw an array of superstars from the neighbouring nation plying their trades for various franchises with three of them—Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir—going on to win the title. Among the trio, Tanvir played a key role in Rajasthan Royals walking away with the honours. The left-arm medium pacer picked up 22 wickets including the only six-fer of the tournament to clinch the Purple Cap.

With Pakistan players not featuring in the league anymore even as the 18th edition of the tournament got underway on Saturday, Tanvir said the situation was unfortunate.

"It is very unfortunate that after playing in the first edition we couldn't play in the IPL," he said when asked about the absence of Pakistan players from the league. "I have always advocated that politics and cricket should not be mixed. I always speak about it. I feel it's a loss for both sides. Whenever I visited India, I have seen the craze for our players among Indian fans and the love the cricketers got in this country. Had Pakistan players played in the IPL, it would have made the IPL more wonderful. At the same time, Pakistan players would have got an opportunity to develop as players and individuals."