Thackeray to announce stand on Aussies in IPL in 2-3 days

A day after Union Minister Sharad Pawar met Bal Thackeray requesting him to withdraw Shiv Sena threat against Australian cricketers’ participation in IPL, the party Monday said it would take a final call on the issue in two-three days.

“Thackeray would take a final call on the issue of Australian players in two-three days,” Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said Monday.

Pawar had met Thackeray at the Sena chief’s ‘Matoshree’ residence in Bandra last night. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar and Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray were also present at the two-hour meeting.

“For me, the country is more important than the game,” Saamana quoted Thackeray as telling Pawar. “I will never tolerate India’s insult,” the Sena supremo said.

“We told Balasaheb that the Australian team will not participate in the IPL, but each IPL team will have one or two Australians,” Manohar had said last night after the meeting.

“He asked us to give a presentation on how many Australian players will play in the IPL. We will make the presentation in a day or two,” Manohar had said.

“Thackeray and he (Uddhav) gave us a considerate hearing. We tried to convince him that only one or two Australian players will participate in the IPL matches and by not allowing all IPL matches it’s the state players (Marathi players) who will lose ultimately,” he had told reporters.

Cong downplays Pawar-Thackeray meet
 

Congress Monday refused to read any political overtures in the meeting between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in Mumbai, saying it was to ensure conduct of a hassle-free IPL.
“We don’t see any political overtures into the meeting. According to media reports, his visit was not as a minister or as NCP chief but as the head of a cricketing body,” party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.

Asked whether the meeting is not sending a wrong signal as it comes after the war of words between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena, Ahmed said it should not be looked at in this perspective.

He said Pawar had met Thackeray to ensure a hassle-free IPL keeping in mind Sena’s decision to protest the presence of Australian players in IPL.

Asked whether Pawar’s meeting with Thackeray was a snub to the Congress, another party spokesperson Abhishekh Manu Singhvi said, “I don’t agree on the use of the word snub. If Pawar has met Thackeray to prevent the politics of disruption in cricketing matters, I don’t see any reason for people to speculate. If he has met him for any other reason, it is for Pawar to explain.

“I am sure that he knows how to ensure that there will be no speculation… there will be misunderstanding or misinterpretation of his visit but for that you have to ask him,” he said.

On whether the party would seek an explanation from NCP, Singhvi said, “There is no question of one political party asking another political party. That can happen only in government or at the coalition level.”