Miandad wants ICC to play role in T20 cricket

Islamabad:

Former Pakistan cricket great Javed Miandad has called on the game's governing body to take control of Twenty20 tournaments after none of the country's players attracted any bids from Indian Premier League teams during its auction for players on on Tuesday.

Pakistan is the reigning Twenty20 world champion and Miandad regards the failure to bid for its players as a snub for the nation.

"It's nothing less than humiliation, not only of our cricketers but the whole nation," Miandad, the Pakistan Cricket Board's director of operations, told the Associated Press.

"When we call IPL an ICC approved tournament, it should mean that at least all the test playing countries will get a substantial representation in the event."

Eleven Pakistan cricketers, including its Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, had registered for the IPL auction but none of the eight IPL franchises bid for them.

Given Pakistan's excellent record in the shortest form of the game, it was expected that IPL franchises would at least show some interest in Afridi, left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir, allrounder Rana Naved and young batting sensation Umar Akmal.

Tanvir was the best bowler in the first edition of the IPL when playing for eventual champion Rajhastan Royals.

Afridi is regarded as one of the best Twenty20 players in the world for his leg-spin bowling and hard-hitting batting, while Akmal had impressed with his strokeplay since making his international debut last year.