PCB to contact BCCI on IPL status

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has said it would contact its Indian counterparts and seek advice from its government on the status of the national players’ chances of playing in the Indian Premier League which will now be staged in South Africa or England.PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said there were lot of issues to be cleared up regarding the participation of Pakistani players in the IPL which was shifted from India on Sunday as it clashed with the Indian general elections.“I will be talking to the Indian board president and also our government. I am sure some of the players would now like to play in the IPL if possible,” Butt said. Butt said he was not in a position to say if the government would reconsider its stance on allowing players to appear in the IPL now.“But if some players are interested in playing in the IPL and if their commitments don’t clash with our national team commitments I will talk to the relevant authorities,” Butt said. The former Test player described the shifting of the IPL from India as unfortunate and said security issues and fears were playing havoc with cricket in the region. Pakistan has suffered the most because of the security situation in the country in the last few years with chances of international teams now touring the country dim after the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore this month by suspected militants.