Pakistan IPL hopefuls granted visas

Sohail Tanvir, who helped Rajasthan Royals win the inaugural IPL in 2008, is one of four Pakistan players to be granted visas

The Indian government has granted visas to four Pakistan players, opening the door for them to participate in the Indian Premier League next year.

Sohail Tanvir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal have been cleared to play by India’s ministry of external affairs, but their participation still hinges on permission from the IPL.

Chairman of the IPL Lalit Modi announced earlier this week that Pakistan players would have to sit it out as they had failed to meet a deadline to submit clearances.

“We had a process in place and the deadline for players to submit documents was postponed twice, from November 20 to 30 and then to December 7,” he said.

“Pakistan’s players still failed to obtain them and they will unfortunately miss the IPL.”

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt, however, believes Pakistan’s players will take part.

“We are still hopeful Pakistan’s players will participate in the event,” Butt said. “The PCB has not surrendered yet and the issue will soon be resolved.”

The Pakistan government had already cleared players to participate in the tournament, which takes place between March 12 and April 25.