Kamal Ghorui
For more than a decade, Pakistan players have remained absent from the Indian Premier League (IPL). The last cricketer from Pakistan to feature in the tournament was allrounder Azhar Mahmood, who played in the league between 2012 and 2015, although he did so after entering the auction as an English player. His appearance came years after the participation of Pakistan cricketers ended in the IPL following the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.The discussion around Pakistan players and franchise leagues returned recently after mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed was picked by Sunrisers Leeds during the player auction of The Hundred. The franchise, owned by the Chennai-based Sun Group, paid GBP 190000 (Rs 2.34 crore approximately) after a bidding contest with Trent Rockets. With that move, Ahmed became the first Pakistani player to be signed by an Indian-owned franchise in the tournament.His signing also ended speculation that Indian-owned teams in The Hundred would avoid Pakistan players, similar to what has happened in the IPL since 2009 due to strained diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan players in IPL
The first season of the IPL in 2008 included several Pakistani cricketers, including Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, and Sohail Tanvir. The tournament saw players from both countries share dressing rooms and compete in the new T20 league.Shahid Afridi played for Deccan Chargers, while fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar represented Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Misbah-ul-Haq was part of the squad of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).Among them, it was fast bowler Sohail Tanvir who left the biggest mark. Playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR), who won the league in 2008, Tanvir finished the season with 22 wickets and claimed the Purple Cap for the highest number of wickets in the tournament. His best performance came against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) when he returned figures of 6/14.However, the situation changed after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Following the attacks, political ties between India and Pakistan were suspended. Later, Pakistan also barred its players from travelling to India for the IPL, citing security concerns.At the time, several franchises expressed disappointment over the absence of Pakistani players from the league.Joy Bhattacharya, who was the then team leader of the KKR, said the team would miss the players from Pakistan. Akhtar, Umar Gul, Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez had all represented the franchise in 2008.“We were like a family. Shoaib and Umar are not only good cricketers but popular among their team-mates as well at the Knight Riders. We will surely miss them a lot,” he had said.Similar views were shared by Amrit Mathur, who was then the chief executive of Delhi Daredevils.“We are going to miss the Pakistani players because they were key members of our team,” Mathur had said.What was initially expected to be a temporary break turned into a long absence. Over time, obtaining No-Objection Certificates from the Pakistan Cricket Board became difficult. At the same time, IPL franchises were hesitant to bid for players who might not receive visas to travel to India.
Azhar Mahmood: Last Pakistan player in IPL
While Pakistan players have largely stayed away from the IPL since 2009, Azhar Mahmood did appear in the league for three seasons between 2012 and 2015.Mahmood played for Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) in the 2012 and 2013 seasons and later represented KKR in the 2015 season.However, Mahmood did not enter the league as a Pakistani player. After moving to the United Kingdom and obtaining a British passport, he registered for the IPL auction as an English player.A right-arm fast-bowling allrounder, Mahmood played 23 IPL matches across three seasons. He took 29 wickets while conceding runs at an economy rate of 7.82. With the bat, he scored 388 runs at a strike rate of 128.05.Mahmood remains the last Pakistan-born cricketer to feature in the IPL, even though he did so as a British citizen.In 2010, there was a brief moment when Pakistan players returned to the IPL auction list. Several leading players from the country were included in the auction pool. However, no franchise placed a bid on any of them. The episode later came to be described as a “silent snub” and it effectively confirmed that the IPL had moved on from signing Pakistan cricketers.Since then, the absence of Pakistan players from the IPL has continued. Mahmood’s appearance in the tournament remains the final instance of a Pakistan-born cricketer taking the field in the league, marking the end of a short chapter that began in the first season of the IPL in 2008.
