Pakistan Cricket Board requests IPL scrap deadline after visa clearance

With the Indian government clearing visa applications of the Pakistani cricketers, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ejaz Butt today said he would request Indian Premier League (IPL) authorities to do away with the deadline conditions set for the players' participation in the cash-rich Twenty20 event.

The Indian government today said visas would be issued to the Pakistani players, who had submitted applications with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and Wellington.

The four players who have been cleared for visa are Sohail Tanvir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal.

Butt said that he was in constant touch with IPL commissioner Lalit Modi over the issue.

"I will be pushing for the IPL to do away with the deadline condition and allow our players to take part in the IPL," Butt said.

"I will be talking again to Modi on the deadline issue because now the Indian government has also given clearance for visas to be issued," he added.

Butt described the Indian government's clearance as a step in the right direction and hoped it would pave the way for both countries to resume bilateral cricket ties.

The PCB chief operating officer Wasim Bari said the Board had been in constant touch with the IPL over the issue.