The Pakistan Sports Ministry has sent the names of three cricketers for clearance to participate in the third edition of the IPL.

By Ayanjit Sen

The Sports Ministry revealed it has sent the names of Umar Gul, Abdul Razzak and Sohail Tanvir to the foreign and interior ministry for political and security clearance before the players get a go-ahead to take part in the 2010 Indian Premier League.

While Gul played for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Tanvir turned up for the Rajasthan Royals in the first edition in 2008. Abdul Razzak has not yet appeared in the IPL.

The Sports Ministry spokesman Faik Ali told espnstar.com that they received a letter from the Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday requesting for the necessary approval for its players to take part in the IPL.

"The Sports Ministry has to seek the clearance from these two ministries before allowing the players to participate in the Twenty20 competition," Ali said.

"We have processed and have already sent the necessary papers to the respective government departments," he added.

"We have already appraised them of the deadline before which we hope to get back their response."

The Chief Executive of the IPL, Sunder Raman was quoted by cricinfo saying that the deadline for the Pakistani players have been extended till 7 December.

Pakistani players did not participate in the last IPL because it did not get the government clearance.

The IPL franchisees had then either terminated or suspended the Pakistani players' contract.

Pakistan's Sports Minister, Aftab Shah Jilani, had earlier said that the PCB was late in sending the request to the government for approval.

The PCB has been criticised by the National Assembly standing committee on sports for issuing the NOCs' without government approval.

India severed cricketing relations with Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks last year and also cancelled a Pakistan Test tour this year.

Though cricketing relations got strained, the Pakistan Sports Ministry allowed squash, snooker and table tennis teams to compete in India.