Indian Premier League confirm Shoaib Akhtar arrival
Mumbai, India - April 04, 2008
Lalit Modi, the Indian Premier League chairman, has confirmed banned fast bowler
Shoaib Akhtar will play in the Twenty20 competition later this month.
The controversial 32-year-old has been handed a five-year ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board from all cricket either in or for Pakistan following criticisms he made of the board after being overlooked for a central contract.
But the ban does not prevent Akhtar from signing up with the IPL - where he is set to represent the Kolkata Knight Riders.
And Modi clarified that they have received no instructions from the PCB in Shoaib's case.
"The PCB officials haven't given any directives to us regarding him being banned for the IPL tournament." Modi said.
"It means that it is very clear that they have no objection to Shoaib playing in tournaments outside Pakistan.
"I think the media reports coming from Pakistan have quoted the PCB officials saying that Akhtar can play in IPL tournaments. As far as PCB does not have any objection to his participation, we have no issues.
"All the foreign players including the pacer have produced No Objection Certificates from their respective boards. A ban on him is totally an internal matter of the PCB. In fact, I have no clear details of it but there shouldn't be any problem for us."
The Kolkata Knight Riders, captained by Sourav Ganguly, will face Rahul Dravid's Bangalore Royal Challengers in IPL's opening clash.
Source - timesonline - Top ^
