Pawar tries to stop Bal tamper

Feb 07, 2010

Mumbai, Feb. 7: Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who is set to become the president of the International Cricket Association, and Indian cricket board president Shashank Manohar visited Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at his residence, Matoshree, in Bandra on Sunday and requested him not to oppose the presence of Australian players in the IPL.

However, Mr Thackeray refused to accede to the BCCI’s request immediately and asked the BCCI to provide details of the Australian players playing in the IPL.Mr Thackeray will decide on his party’s stand about “allowing” Australian players in after going through the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s presentation.“We told Balasaheb that the Australian team will not be participating in the IPL but each IPL team will have one or two Australians. He asked us to give a presentation on how many Australian players will play in IPL. We accepted his demand. We will give the presentation in one or two days. After that he will clear his stand on the issue,” Mr Manohar said.Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Mr Thackeray will announce the party’s stand in the next two days. Earlier on Saturday, addressing the NCP cadre at Aurangabad, Mr Pawar said, “Sports should not be mixed with politics. If Balasaheb is saying something like that (not allowing the Australian team to play in India), then I will personally request him. Balasaheb and I have become old and I will convince him that we should not get into such arguments.”After the meeting, Mr Pawar headed to Mumbai with Mr Manohar at around 7 pm and reached Matoshree to discuss the issue with Mr Thackeray. The meeting went on for approximately two hours.Mr Pawar is all set to head the ICC later this year after Mr David Morgan. According to a source, even though Mr Pawar becoming ICC president is a forgone conclusion, he cannot afford any controversy regarding overseas players in the IPL.This is not the first time Mr Pawar has sought Mr Thackeray’s cooperation for a smooth IPL season. Before the first edition of the IPL, Mr Pawar had met Mr Thackeray on December 23, 2007 to request him not to oppose Pakistani players in the IPL. The Shiv Sena had dropped its opposition to the Pakistani players after that meeting.

Age Correspondent

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