Former India batsman Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Pakistani players will soon start playing for Indian employers once again. At present, all the bilateral relation between India and Pakistan is suspended due to political reasons.
Chopra discussed the future T20 leagues and how Pakistani cricketers will once more begin competing for Indian owners. On his YouTube page, he stated:
“Pakistani players are banned in the IPL, but they play in all the other T20 leagues. So since Indian franchise owners have bought teams in other leagues, they will be hiring Pakistan players as well. This is also going to happen. So, Pakistani players are soon going to play for Indian employers once again.”
Commenting on the UAE T20 league he said, “The UAE is the first league in the world that can challenge the IPL. The success matrix as of now is – what is the salary cap of players? How much can you pay the cricketers? Players are commodities. In 2008, when the IPL auction happened, people were thinking – are these cattle being sold? But the reality now is that everyone wants to be sold.”
Both the teams have not played a bilateral series against each other since Pakistan visited India in early 2013 for a short series. Apart from the suspension of the bilateral series, the Pakistani players are also not allowed to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pakistani players featured in the tournament just once in 2008 before the terrorist attack in Mumbai prompted the Indian government to ban the Pakistanis from IPL.