Pakistan Cricket Board Makes U-Turn, Wants Indians in Pakistan Super League

Pakistan Cricket Board, increasingly unsure of December's bilateral series against India, is suddenly "open" to the idea of having Indians at the Pakistan Super League.

Having ruled out the participation of Indian players in Pakistan's version of the IPL next February, Najam Sethi, the head of PCB's executive committee, now says presence of Indian players will make "PSL the second biggest thing after IPL."

The Pakistan Cricket Board is desperate to host India in a full series in UAE in December. PCB chairman Shahryar Khan recently said that Pakistan will wait till October-end to take "the next steps". Pakistan even hinted at "boycotting India" at the international level. (Pakistan Cricket Board to Discuss December Series with India at ICC Meet: Shahryar Khan)

Sethi's plans to invite Indians in the PSL is also aimed at enabling Pakistani play in IPL once again. BCCI had subtly shut the door on Pakistani players after the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008 saw the participation of top Pakistan players like Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar and Misbah-ul-Haq. (Don't Run Behind Indian Board for Bilateral Series, Inzamam-ul-Haq Urges Pakistan Cricket Board)

Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir and Younis Khan were part of Shane Warne's IPL-winning Rajasthan Royals squad. But after the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan players were kept at a safe distance by team owners.

Sethi told Pakistan's Nation newspaper: "We are going to try to persuade the Indians to play us in December. If that happens, we will also be talking about a reciprocal arrangement -- and I have had preliminary talks with people in Delhi on this -- about Pakistani players being allowed to play in IPL and Indian players being allowed to play in PSL.

"If the series takes place in December, the ground will be fertile. If you don't want our players to play in your league, okay, but at least let your players play in ours. It will be difficult for them to refuse that. There will be pressure from the players. If Indian players do come in, then I think PSL will become the biggest thing in cricket after IPL."

Indian players are forbidden by the BCCI to participate in T20 tournaments.

Scheduled between February 4-24 in Dubai and Sharjah, PSL, with a prize money of 1 million US Dollars, has already attracted world stars like Kevin Pietersen, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo. It has even listed an Indian coach, former all-rounder Robin Singh.