Govt has nothing to do with IPL player selection: Krishna

New Delhi:

Rebuffing accusations of influencing the team franchisees of the Indian Premier League to avoid picking Pakistani players in the auction on Tuesday, India's External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said the government had no role to play in the player selection.

"Government has nothing to do with selection of players for sporting events," Krishna said on Thursday.

Eleven Pakistani players were shortlisted for the auction that held in Mumbai on Tuesday but none of them found any takers, giving air to speculations.

Current and former players acted angrily and accused Indian government of playing an influential role in the snub.

"Sportsmen are ambassadors of peace, and India should respect Pakistani sportsmen," said Rehman Malik, Pakistani Interior Minister.

A group of Pakistani parliamentarians have cancelled their forthcoming tour to India, in protest of the snub.

Krishna replied strongly to Pakistan saying, "Pakistan will have to draw a line between where Government of India is directly connected and where it is not".