IPL teams want to wait and watch

If the Indian Premier League's transfer window has not seen much activity, blame it on the lack of clarity on availability of foreign
cricketers for the second edition of the league. Till the time the franchisees get a clear picture on this, they would want to wait and watch.

Till date, apart from the Indian cricketers, players from Sri Lanka and New Zealand are available for the entire IPL season this year. If Australia tours Pakistan or the two decided to play at a neutral venue, Ricky Ponting and his men will miss the IPL till May 10.

The only good news is that all the South African players are expected to take part in the T20 event. They will miss just the first three matches.

On the other hand, West Indian players are only available for the first 20 days. Then there is the question mark over Pakistan players' availability. "Under these circumstances, who is going to go ahead and shortlist names for transfers? We will stick to what we have for the time being," a team official asked.

Besides, there are also doubts over the availability of England players. "Some are saying that England players will be available for at least five weeks, while there are reports in the English media that their players will be given permission to play in the IPL for only two weeks. We still don't know how many of them will actually come," another team official said.

"Last year, some teams had matches five days after the league began. If that happens, what is the point of having foreign players for just two weeks in the beginning of the league?" an IPL team source asked.

According to some of the franchisees, there is also a dictum in the IPL - don't hire players on replacement basis. "We are not sure about our combination as of now. Till these problems are solved and there is more clarity, we can't get actively involved in transfers," a team in-charge added.