However, the ministry has reiterated that the players’ security would be their own and respective IPL team’s responsibility. According to the ministry it has already sent its recommendations on a note moved by the Pakistan Cricket Board to the President’s Secretariat, said reports.

It may be recalled that the Pakistan Cricket Board had earlier moved a note seeking to know whether the ministry would allow Pak players to take part in the IPL this year. The nod from the ministry has clarified that the players can individually decide what they want to do and that the minitsry had no qualms abot their participation in the IPL. The ministry also said that it has stated its no objection reagrding this. The note has been sent to the President’s Secretariat for further action.

According to norms, the President’s Secretariat is authorised to issue a guideline or policy for the players to participate in the IPL. Earlier reports had said that the PCB had moved the note to the ministry seeking its opinion after the IPL authorities asked it to confirm if Pakistani players were allowed by their government to take part in the IPL.

It may be noted that the IPL top bosses had conveyed to the PCB that if Pakistani players were stopped by their government from playing in the Twenty20 tournament they would not be paid anything but if they couldn’t take part in the league because of Indian government’s decision that they would be fully compensated.

In the meantime, the ministry has also added that it had earlier decided not to send its national hockey and squash teams to India owing to the fact the relations between India and Pakistan were not very bright. Post-Mubai terror attacks the two nations are not seeing eye to eye taking into account the not so good relations between the two.

The major problem with the tribunal is that chairman of the appellate tribunal Aftab Farrukh is extremely busy with other engagements. It is unlikely that the case will be decided in a hurry. Aftab is a retired judge of Lahore High Court and now a practicing barrister.

Shoaib Akhtar wants an early disposal of the case so that he could play for the cash rich IPL starting from April 18, 2008.

The controversial fast bowler had been selected for playing for Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders. Shah Rukh wanted the Rawalpindi Express to play for his team from the beginning itself. He has also mounted pressure Board of Cricket Control of India to allow the Pak pacer to play for IPL matches.

Earlier, BCCI vice president and Chairman of Indian Premier League Lalit Modi had remarked that Shoaib Akhthar could not play IPL until Pakistan Cricket Board removes the ban imposed on him on disciplinary grounds. The tribunal, which has former Test player Haseeb Ahsan and former Minister Salman Taseer as other members, has a minimum of seven and maximum of 30 days to reach a decision on Akhtar’s appeal. It is unlikely that there would be an immediate decision taking move. Shoaib Akhtar was extended punishment for breaching players Code of Conduct. He had earlier publicly criticised various board policies after he was overlooked for a central contract in January.

Meanwhile there are reports that Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly has zeroed in another Pakistani pacer, Umar Gul, to replace Shoaib Akthar for their first match. “Umar Gul is in our team. He will serve us well,” said Sourav Ganguly to the media when quizzed about the Shoaib ban.

Unless the Pakistan Tribunal takes a fast decision, the fate of Shib Akthar playing the cash rich Twenty20 matches looks unlikely – at least in the beginning.

Modi said, “His contract is still valid and has not been cancelled. He is still contracted to the IPL and through it to the Kolkata Knight Riders”. According to the rules of the BCCI, a player who has been suspended by his country’s cricket board would not be allowed to play in the IPL tournament, Modi said.

On Thursday, BCCI officials had said that Shoaib Akhtar, who has been banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on charges of indiscipline for five years, would not be allowed to play in the IPL.

“We cannot have the situation where a player banned for any reason is harboured by the IPL. Currently his contract stands since he is in the appeal process… We hope it will be resolved at the earliest. His contract is not being cancelled presently,” Modi said.

Kolkata Kinght Riders team, the Kolkata IPL team owned by Shah Rukh Khan, had bought the Pakistani speedster during the player auction. Yesterday, Khan openly came out in support of Akhtar saying he was an important member of his team. Khan had also said that he would speak to Modi on this issue.

Shoaib Akhtar, who virtually faces the end of his cricketing career with a five year ban, is expected to appeal this week before an Pakistan Appellate Tribunal.

IPL boss Lalit Modi has said till the PCB ban is lifted Shoaib cannot play in IPL. Shah Rukh Khan has said he will ask the BCCI to permit Shoaib Akhtar to play in IPL. Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders had bagged Shoaib Akhtar for Rs 1.8 crore.Shah Rukh Khan’s contention is that IPL matches does not have international status.But IPL is not likely to budge as it doesnt want to antagonise cricket boards. IPL may give Kolkata Knight Riders
an option to replace Shoaib Akhtar with another player.

Shoaib Akhtarwas banned by PCB’s disciplinary panel for repeated violation of discipline.But the issue is spiralling out of control, with Shoaib Akhtar accusing the PCB chief, Nasim Ashraf tried to “extract money” from him.

Shoaib Akhtar also said he was offered money to throw away matches. An angry PCB has now demanded Rs 20 crore as damages.The ICC anti-corruption wing will now summon Shoaib Akhtar to investigate his charges.

The IPL’s Governing Council Chairman Lalit Modi told reporters that Akhtar cannot take part in the high-profile Twenty20 competition till the Pakistan Cricket Board lifts the ban on him.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Akhtar ifnds some support from Shah Rukh Khan:

“We believe Shoaib should play. It is a sad incident that Shoaib has been banned from IPL as well. We will talk to IPL authorities.

The Shah Rukh Khan-owned IPL Team Kolkata Knight Riders can now relax. Though the Pakistan Cricket Board has imposed a five-year ban on the Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar from playing international cricket, he has been cleared for the multi-million dollar Twenty20 IPL League.

The Board of Cricket Control of India Vice President and Chairman of Indian Premier League Lalit Modi on Wednesday said the Pakistan fast bowler could participate in the Twenty20 IPL match despite the PCB ban. Signalling what could be the end of Shoib Akhtar’s international career, the Pakistan Cricket Board had on Thursday served a five-year ban for his repeated indiscipline.

The PCB imposed the ban on Shoaib Akhtar as it felt that his presence in the team would damage the image of the Pakistan cricket team. The ban prohibits him from playing in his home land for five years. The board was compelled to take the extreme step following repeated violation of the players’ code of conduct by Akhtar. The latest violation came when he openly criticized the PCB after he lost a place in the national team. The PCB has said they lost confidence in Akhtar. The player was on two-year probation for attacking team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat in 2007.

The Saurav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders has signed a contract with Shoaib Akhtar for a sum of US$4.25 lakh for playing in the coming IPL Twenty20 matches. The IPL player policy says that the players participating in the tournament has to submit a No Objection Certificate from the Cricket Board of the respective country for joining the team. The home country could either give permission or deny it. IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said the PCB has not denied the NOC to Shoaib Akhtar. Akhtar, though, is now planning to file an appeal against the PCB ban.

After announcing the ban, the PCB disciplinary committee said the Akthar could not play for Pakistan or in Pakistan for next five years. They said he could play for IPL as it is not under their jurisdiction.

The Bangladesh team is touring Pakistan from April 8- 19. Their schedule five one day matches. It is expected that some of the Pakistan players would skip the first few IPL matches due to their hectic international schedule. There is also uncertainty that players like Mohammad Yousuf would be allowed to play in IPL or not following a case filed by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL). They have approached the arbitration panel to block Yousuf from participating in the IPL. The verdict will come only after April 30.

Sri Lanka’s West Indian tour already started. It will conclude on April 14.  West Indian and Sri Lankan players won’t get much time to relax before they set out to play in the IPL matches. It is expected that the first few matches of IPL would not have a lot of celebrity players on the field.

Cricket enthusiasts are also eagerly waiting to know which New Zealand, England, West Indian and Australian players would be available for the last lap of IPL matches.

New Zealand is touring England from April to July. Five New Zealand players have been allowed to participate in Twenty20 games in IPL. The New Zealand Cricket Assocaition has given permission to Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Kyle Mills to skip warm up matches during the English tour. The players, who are part of different IPL teams, at are expected to join the team only by May 1.

Meanwhile, the Australian team’s West Indian tour starts on May 16. The team will play two tests, five ODIs and one Twenty20 match against West Indies. It is now clear that Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan would not play the first two tests due to their pre occupation with the Indian Premier League. These players have already signed with different IPL teams.

Cricket lovers world over are worried over the impact of the IPL on the international cricket. There are also reports that some of the Australian cricket stars participating in IPL matches may miss the training camp before their tour in West Indies.

Many small cricket playing nations such as Zimbabwe, West Indies and New Zealand are very much disappointed over the present schedule of IPL as they fear big revenue losses. Their cricket season coincides with the IPL tournament and the cricket boards in these countries are worried that their income would dwindle this season.

The Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka itself was organized after Australia postponed its tour citing security reasons, following the political turmoil there.

But the present Sri Lankan tour of Pakistan clashes with IPL schedule. The tour is from April 23 to May 5.

Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene, batsman Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan are taking part in the DLF IPL Twenty 20.

The Sri Lankan board cannot object to the IPL about the players participation as this is a make-shift tour of Pakistan, for which the players have not been contracted for. The players have been contracted only to tour West Indies, where they are touring now.

Media reports said key Sri Lankan players met in Guyana to decide on their course of action.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has offered Sri Lanka $800,000 provided a full team plays there.

Former Australian fast bowler and Pakistan team coach Geff Lawson has said Cricket Australia’s decision not to tour Pakistan as scheduled this month was unfair.

The Pakistan tour was called off in the aftermath of the twin Lahore blasts yesterday.

Geff Lawson says it was more annoying that Pakistan would not be taking on Australia since the Australians are “now beatable”. India beat Australia to win the Commonwealth Bank series 2-0.

But many players in the Australian team would be happy with the decision as they would get a chance to play in DLF IPL Twenty20 to begin on April 18. Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and James Hopes are among the Australian stars who have been contracted to play IPL along with retired stars Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

Fourteen players were auctioned in the second and final round of bidding for the DLF IPL Twenty20 tournament beginning on April 18, with Australian James Hopes bagging the highest bid of $300,000 from Mohali franchaise owned by Bollywood’s Preity Zinta and friend Ness Wadia.

Dimitri Masceranhas became the first England player to bag an IPL contract, being bagged by Jaipur for $100,000.

Dimitri Masceranhas , however, does not have an England and Wales Cricket Board, contract.

In the first auction in Mumbai’s Hilton, 75 international stars were contracted by various IPL teams.

Misabah-Ul-Haq, who was earlier reported to be with Kolkata IPL promoted by Shah Rukh Khan, has been bagged by Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore IPL team Royal Challengers for $125,000. Pakistan players Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez were both bought for Rs 40 lakhs each

Bangalore Royal Challengers, owned by Vijay Mallya, also bought Bangladesh’s left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq for Rs 20 lakhs ($ 50,000) and Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor for Rs 40 lakhs ($ 100,000). Virat Kohli, the captain of the victorious under-19 Indian team was also taken by Bangalore for Rs 20 lakhs.

The second auction’s highest price of $300,00o is in sharp contrast to the first auction where Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni went for $1.5 million from the Chennai IPL team promoted by India Cements.

Andrew Symonds was second with a $1.3 million bid from Deccan Chronicle, which promotes the Hyderabad IPL team.

Pakistan’s premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf was not contracted by any teams, though he will be paid a retainer fee by the BCCI.

Australian Shaun Tait was not considered eligible for the auction as the player’s offer came late.

Extra from CNN-IBN:

Jaipur, which was fined for not spending the prescribed minimum amount in the first auction, bought all-rounders Shane Watson (Australia) for Rs 50 lakhs, Morne Morkel (South Africa) for Rs 24 lakhs, Dmitry Mascarenhas (England) for Rs 40 lakhs, Pakistani seam bowler Sohail Tanveer for Rs 40 lakhs and a couple of Indian U-19 players in Taruwar Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja.

Auction details

Dmitri Mascarenhas (England) – $100,000 – Jaipur
Shane Watson (Australia) – $125,000 – Jaipur
Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan) – $100,000 – Jaipur
Morne Morkel (South Africa) – $60,000 – Jaipur
James Hopes (Australia) – $300,000 – Mohali
Kyle Mills (New Zealand) – $150,000 – Mohali
Luke Pomersbach (Australia) – $50,000 – Mohali
Misbah-ul Haq (Pakistan) – $125,000 – Bangalore
Ross Taylor (New Zealand) – $100,000 – Bangalore
Abdur Razzak (Bangladesh) – $50,000 – Bangalore
Salman Butt (Pakistan) – $100,000 – Kolkata
Mohd. Hafeez (Pakistan) – $100,000 – Kolkata
Ashwell Prince (South Africa)- $175,000 – Mumbai
Brett Geeves (Australia) – $50,000 – Delhi

Cricket Australia and Pakistan Cricket Board chairmen will meet in Dubai later this month to discuss the new fixtures.

There have been allegations that the boards were conspiring to enable players take part in the IPL, reportedly under pressure from the BCCI.

Almost a dozen people were feared killed on Tuesday at Lahore’s when a bomb ripped through the office of Pakistan’s premier investigation agency, underscoring Cricket Australia’s security concerns about the tour

The announcement came on the same day there was a lethal bombing in the Pakistan city of Lahore.

Australia’s last tour of Pakistan was in 1998.