ISLAMABAD, Jan 30: Pakistan Sports Minister Aftab Jilani said on Friday that the ministry has no objection to its cricketers competing in the Indian Premier League.

“We feel it’s a private league in which Pakistani players compete in an individual capacity,” Jilani said.

The sports minister said president Asif Ali Zardari, patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board, had sought the ministry’s opinion on players’ participation in this year’s IPL, a highly lucrative Twenty20 tournament that begins April 10.

“We have replied to the presidency on this issue and now it’s up to the players and the PCB,” Jilani said.

Leading Pakistan players including Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Kamran Akmal all played in last year’s IPL.

Earlier this month, the Pakistan government denied permission for its men’s field hockey team to play in a four-nation tournament in India in the wake of terrorist attacks in Mumbai in which at least 164 people were killed.

New Delhi has blamed Pakistan-based terrorists for the attacks.

“That was a team sport and we felt it was not safe for our hockey team players to play in India,” Jilani said.—AP