Kamal, Hameed included in IPL auction

Karachi:

At a time when participation of Pakistan players in the lucrative Indian Premier League is in doubt owing to tension between the two countries, the IPL has included discarded batsmen Asim Kamal and Yasir Hameed for the players auction to be held on February 6.

A senior official of the IPL has informed Asim and Yasir that their names have been included in the list of players who would be put up for auction for the second edition of the tournament.

"The official has said if any franchise shows interest they can bid for the two of us," Asim said.

Due to the prevalent tension between Pakistan and India in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, many of the franchisees have already released the Pakistan players before the new season kicks off while putting some others up for auction.

The reason being that franchisees are not sure whether Pakistan players would get clearance from the two governments to play in India in April.

"Another reason is that Pakistan players would be busy with national duties for most part of the time the IPL is held this year," one source said.