Are Pakistani Players Allowed in IPL? Pakistani Players Who Have Played in IPL

IPL is one of the most recognized and celebrated cricket tournaments in the world. Players from all over the world come to test their skills in short tournaments except one country, Pakistan. Pakistani players in IPL only appeared in the first season since the tournament started in 2008 and have been left out since then.

Due to the Mumbai bombings in 2008, the political relations between India and Pakistan changed resulting in the banning of Pakistani players from the IPL. On November 26, 2008, the city of Mumbai was attacked by 10 terrorists. Ajmal Kasab – one of 10 – has angered India by revealing information about how the terror group is staging attacks in Pakistan. As a result, the BCCI decided to ban Pakistani players from the IPL, and have been banned ever since.

It is an act of war against the Republic of India. As a result, the Indian government and BCCI banned Pakistani players from the IPL. In 2012, BCCI discouraged its IPL franchise owners from selecting Pakistani players. However since 2012, Pakistan and India now only play in big ICC tournaments, there is no bilateral series between these two countries anymore.

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Pakistani players who have played in IPL:

The IPL started in 2008 when there was no such tension between the two councils, so players from Pakistan were allowed to play in the IPL. But after the bombing, tensions between the two councils surfaced and later resulted in players being banned from playing in the opposing country.

Just like IPL now, Pakistan has its league called PSL in which many big names play, except Indian players are not allowed to play in their league.

In IPL, Pakistani players are not allowed to play, but in 2008 there was no such regulation, some Pakistani players played for various teams, for example:

Umar Gul was one of the finest players in every format of Pakistan. Back then in his playing days, he used to bowl on accurate line and length which made him a good T20 bowler. He was also signed by KKR. He took 12 wickets in 6 games.

Mohammad Hafeez, KKR signed several Pakistani players in their first Indian Premier League season. One of them was Hafeez. The versatile player appeared in eight games for the franchise, recording 64 runs with an SR of 77.11. He also took two wickets for the team. He was one of the finest players in Pakistan.

Also Read: “An Indian Threatened Pakistan Cricket Team But We Still Came”, Says Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi was a Former Pakistan captain who played for the Deccan Chargers in his first season in the IPL. Afridi was lucky enough to play 10 games, scoring 81 runs and taking nine wickets for the Chargers. Afridi was one of the best players of T20 in the history of cricket.

Shoaib Akhtar was one of the fastest players in the history of cricket. He was also signed by KKR and he took 5 wickets in 3 games with an economy rate of 7.71. His best came against Delhi which was 4/11. He is known as “Rawalpindi Express”.

Sohail Tanvir was a fast bowler who played for Rajasthan Royals. He was a star player on that winning squad for RR. He was the first purple cap holder. He took 22 wickets for RR in 2008 which made him the highest wicket-taker.

Apart from these Mohammad Asif, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, and Azhar Mahmood were also part of the IPL.