We don't care if an Afghan player gets millions in IPL: Javed Miandad

Former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad recently made an attempt to warn the Afghanistan Cricket Board from being deviated by the IPL selections. Yesterday, two Afghanistan players made history as they were picked by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2017 Auctions.

Star all-rounder Mohammad Nabi was bagged for a base price of INR 30 Lakh and young leg-spinner Rashid Khan raked a whopping INR 4 crore deal. Apparently, Miandad’s words sounded like a case of sour grapes. As per the quotes in Sportswallah.com, the former Pakistan skipper started with his comments on no Pakistani player being eligible to play the coveted Indian Premier League.

The popularity of the IPL needs no testimonial. As some of the top picks of the auctions of 2017 mentioned, the big money can potentially change the life of any player. However, due to the political tensions between India and Pakistan, the Pakistani players are not allowed to be a part of the tournament. Javed Miandad noted that they are unfazed by the selections of the Afghan players in the league.

He added that the Pakistani players do not feel bad if they do not get a chance to play in the IPL. Earlier they did feel let down but now with the PSL running successfully, Miandad feels there is absolutely no interest among the Pakistani players to play any other league like IPL.

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“We don’t care if an Afghan player or any other player is bought in the IPL for millions of rupees. Earlier, we used to feel bad when Pakistani players were not able to play in IPL, but now we have our own Pakistan Super League, which is very successful. If a product is great, it will sell across the world. Similarly, a good player will always have admirers all over the world,” quoted Miandad.

It seems that the former skipper has made it a habit of lambasting the cricket boards. Even the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could not escape his wrath-filled words earlier. He had condemned the national board for letting the tainted players get back in the national side. His indication was aimed at the return of Mohammad Amir.

“Only the Board is to blame for this mess. In a population of 20 million people, the Board insisted on recalling Mohammad Aamir to the national side as if they were no other talent available in the country. When you set such examples what do you expect from other players,” he had conceded.