Missing the third season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is actually a blessing in disguise for the Pakistani cricketers since it has allowed the players to gel as a team and prepare better for the ICC World Twenty20, skipper Shahid Afridi said on Thursday.
The flamboyant all-rounder, who was asked to lead the team in the West Indies by the PCB, insists that he has no regrets on missing the lucrative league.
“No I don't have any regrets at all. In a way it is a blessing in disguise for all our players that we are not playing in the IPL before the World Cup.
“Given the problems that have besieged Pakistan cricket in recent months it is good that we have got time to work together as a team in the World Cup training camp, it has allowed us to settle down and focus on the World Cup,” Afridi said.
Afridi and several other leading Pakistani players were included in the list of cricketers who were put up for auction but none of the franchises bid for any of them.
But Afridi said that issue was now behind him and he was focused on the World T20.
“We really are not following the IPL closely.
“We don't know who is playing or who is not playing because the purpose of holding this training camp has been to gel the players and allow them to prepare as a team for the World Cup,” he added.
Afridi feels his side badly needed a break after the disastrous Australian tour, so missing IPL has actually helped the team.
