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Karachi, Feb 3 (PTI) Pakistani cricketers' absence from the second season of the Indian Premier League has left the affected franchises disappointed with their top officials saying that the Twenty20 event would be poorer without players from here.
The Pakistan foreign affairs office yesterday barred the the country's cricketers from travelling to India for IPL because of "security concerns".
The BCCI and IPL officials, Niranjan Shah and Lalit Modi said the absence of Pakistani players would not make a difference to the league's following. But the franchises felt otherwise.
Joy Bhatacharya -- the team leader of the Kolkata Knight Riders team for whom Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez played last season -- said the team would miss the Pakistani flavour this season.
"We are not just a team we were like a family and Shoaib and Umar are not only good cricketers but popular among their teammates as well at the Knight Riders. We will surely miss them a lot," he told Geo TV.
Similar feelings were expressed by Amrit Mathur, the CEO of Delhi Daredevils.
"We are going to miss the Pakistani players because they were key members of our team," Mathur told the channel.
"Shoaib Malik in fact was a very important member of the side and very cooperative we will miss his presence. One would have liked Pakistani presence in the IPL," he said. PTI
The Pakistan foreign affairs office yesterday barred the the country's cricketers from travelling to India for IPL because of "security concerns".
The BCCI and IPL officials, Niranjan Shah and Lalit Modi said the absence of Pakistani players would not make a difference to the league's following. But the franchises felt otherwise.
Joy Bhatacharya -- the team leader of the Kolkata Knight Riders team for whom Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez played last season -- said the team would miss the Pakistani flavour this season.
"We are not just a team we were like a family and Shoaib and Umar are not only good cricketers but popular among their teammates as well at the Knight Riders. We will surely miss them a lot," he told Geo TV.
Similar feelings were expressed by Amrit Mathur, the CEO of Delhi Daredevils.
"We are going to miss the Pakistani players because they were key members of our team," Mathur told the channel.
"Shoaib Malik in fact was a very important member of the side and very cooperative we will miss his presence. One would have liked Pakistani presence in the IPL," he said. PTI
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