This was how the biggest superstar of the Indian film industry, Shah Rukh Khan described Pakistani and Indian cricketers when he recently headlined a show featuring Kareena Kapoor and Dia Mirza late last year. Pakistan's cricket team was on a tour of India and Shah Rukh must have been laying the ground for the Indian Premier League that would soon be formed.

The event, aptly titled Dawat-e-Dosti not only saw SRK dancing to his most famous songs but it also showed his love and knowledge for the game that is cricket. Bollywood stars, who are more popular than politicians in India paid tribute to the champions of cricket that hail from the subcontinent. The fact that we lost the series didn't stand in the way as SRK repeatedly praised Pakistani players, as much as he praised his own.

Cricket is the biggest form of entertainment in the subcontinent. Even ICC maintains that when an India-Pakistan match takes place, it is one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. And with PCB struggling to get international cricket teams play right here at home (security situation), it is through ICL and IPL that our players will get to play the game lives in the heart of Pakistan.

ICL versus IPL
The dynamics are changing. The biggest catalysts of this movement are the two leagues that hail out of India: the official BCCI stamped Indian Premier League and the "rebel" Indian Cricket League.
ICL, however, was not blessed by Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) and instantly was tagged "rebel" league. So while ICL was hunting for players, BCCI pressurized International Cricket Council (ICC) to help them by 'not' giving ICL an official status. In other words, if ICC doesn't recognize ICL, most players will stay away from it for the fear of wrath that will be bestowed on them by ICC as well as their respective boards.

Considering the fact that India is one of the most lucrative teams in cricket today, ICC obliged BCCI's stance. Then BCCI came after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and convinced them to not give support to ICL. BCCI had its reasons. They were forming their own league that we now know as India Premier League.

PCB also had its reasons for support to BCCI. We are also planning 'Pakistan Premier League' .

Changing dynamics
With the birth of ICL and IPL, cricket has suddenly become glamourous, fun, entertaining and musical. It is now giving opportunity to high and mighty businessmen like Vijay Mallaya, Mukesh Ambani, Ness Wadia as well as Bollywood stars, Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Juhi Chawla to invest money in and create their own teams, pick their own players and generate publicity for themselves as well as for their teams. This is star power at its peak.

Shah Rukh and Juhi and Jay put in 75 million dollars on Kolkata Knight Riders - a team they have bought through IPL while Preity and Ness put in 76 million dollars on Mohali team and Vijay Mallaya won the bid for Bangalore Royal Rangers for 111.6 million dollars, all vis-à-vis IPL.

SRK has a song in the pipeline featuring Rani Mukherji and Bipasha Basu. Vijay Mallaya signed on Deepika Paudkone and Katrina Kaif to star opposite Rahul Dravid for his team and has hired slick director Sanjay Gupta (Kaante fame) to direct a promotional advertisement. Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta got Daler Mehdi to sing a theme song for their team.

And when asked his motto behind bidding for players and purchasing a team vis-à-vis IPL, Shah Rukh stated, "Remember we have four years ahead to plan. Our focus should be to build a strong group of players by the time the next World Cup arrives. Once India builds the best team possible, all the gold medals can come back to us."

This was a reference to the World Cup starting in 2011.

The big difference
While King Khan and friends are doing everything from videos to songs and advertisements to promote their respective teams, things in Pakistani cricket are hitting bottom. With the creation of ICL and IPL, Pakistani cricketers got a chance at the spotlight just like cricketers all over the world.

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Mohammed Sami, Riaz Afridi, Arshad Khan, Naved Latif, Azhar Mahmood, Humyun Farhat, Hassan Raza and Shahid Nazir are all a part of Lahore Badshahs - a team supported by rebel league ICL. Other Pakistani players like Taufeeq Umar is playing for ICL's Delhi Giants and Abdul Razzaq is playing for ICL's Hyderabad Heroes. And all of them kicking up a serious storm on the field. Now get this… all of them are banned from Pakistani international and domestic cricket because they are playing for the 'rebel team'. We can't claim them as our own.

Players like Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Sami, Azhar Mahmood, Imran Nazir and Imran Farhat are some of our most well-known cricketers. Over a period of many years, they have developed a following that pulls in viewers to watch them play.

ICL and IPL - both approached Pakistani cricketers and even if ICL is a 'rebel league', the right thing to do would've been working out the problems with the 'banned' cricketers, not banning them and making them look like a bunch of traitors.

"Please don't bring in regionalism and religion into sport. Once you become a sportsperson, regional and religious differences don't matter. It is the game that matters," said Shah Rukh Khan about all the players who are cricketers. And this is really the truth of the matter. They are cricketers.

Part of the equation is money. ICL and IPL offer big moolah and it has enticed everyone, not just Pakistani players so why not work out a deal with the players and mentor them? Or push them towards playing for IPL? In this way, they get to play in the league like their international counterparts and still have a shot at domestic and international cricket team.

The strange thing is that while India is relaxed on its rules, we are as rigid as it gets. On one hand we ban the players and we also frown upon anyone who is remotely interested in having a social life such as Shoaib Akhtar. He is seen at parties right here in Pakistan and when he goes abroad, he sometimes goes to clubs.

Now compare things to India…
Indian cricketer Sreenath and Priyanka Chopra reportedly have a 'thing' going on; Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni were both rumoured to have been dating Deepika Paudkone at one point; Yuvraj Singh has had numerous flings including one with model/actress Kim Sharma and now Bengali beauty Raima Sen. At the premiere of Race, Bipasha was seen hanging out the captain of Indian cricketing team, MS Dhoni. Sachin Tendulkar hung out with the Bachchans when Abhishek and Aishwarya tied the knot last year.
There was no brouhaha about Indian players "going out of control" or "partying with the stars". They do have a right to personal life and in India, Bollywood and cricket is coming closer with every passing day. And no one is judging them, not even Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI). But things in Pakistan are different. If Shoaib Akhtar is partying in Australia, it is frowned upon.

One huge tragedy…
Where Indian cricket team has massive stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul David and now Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, we have Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi.

What did we do? We put Shoaib Akhtar on a measly retainer. When contracts were signed and the list was revealed in January this year, Shoaib Akhtar was missing from categories A, B, C and D. Shoaib actually got demoted to a lousy retainership worth 75,000 rupees.

Shahid Afridi was dropped from Category A to B even though Afridi is the one man who can make or break a match and can pull viewers in… in a way that even Wasim Akram couldn't. And others who were missing from the list included fast bowler Mohammad Sami who had developed a slow but steady following over the last few years.

Pakistan Cricket Board, of course has lots of explanations so we won't even go there. The issue is not who has performed in the last six months and who deserves a kick from PCB and what the statistics are. The real issue is the lack of star power that our cricket team is suffering from.
Just ask yourself this: how interested were you when Pakistan played opposite Zimbabwe earlier this year? We crushed Zimbabwe but most of us just weren't bothered to sit through the entire series as religiously as cricket buffs do when Australia is playing or India. Honestly the only time I could bear the match was when Afridi walked out onto the field.

Afridi drew us in and played some solid innings but we demoted him to the B-category even though he should've been kept in A-category. If for nothing else, then simply for his ability to get even the most disinterested people pay attention to cricket.

The problem is that, cricket, like music and cinema, needs stars to pull in viewers and to generate revenue. This is why PCB was pacing back and forth to get Australia to tour Pakistan later this year because how many of us will go see Bangladesh play against our boys? It isn't that Bangladesh is a bad team but it simply means that getting to see Brett Lee put a ball to Afridi on our own soil is a dream people would turn up to see.

Ask yourself this: why is Shah Rukh's entry in cricket such a huge deal? It is simple. He is a superstar and he as well as Preity Zinta will rake in people who might not even care about cricket. Music videos catch tunes and the star power that Shah Rukh possesses will give cricketers a massive push.

Rawalpindi Express is important
There is no denying that Shoaib Akhtar has pulled a lot of temperamental shenanigans including hitting his own teammate. He is a man with discipline problems. But PCB has never handled him right.
"Every fast bowler gets unfit and because of his action and speed Shoaib has more fitness problems but that doesn't mean you don't play him at all. He won Pakistan the most important series against England in 2005," said legendary cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan about Shoaib Akhtar.

Even Imran Khan has criticized Shoaib and often for not pulling up his socks but he has always, always maintained that Shoaib Akhtar is a match-winner and has to be handled a little more differently than the rest of the players.

Shoaib does have his faults but he is still, our most charismatic player and he deserves better than being punished all the time, simply because he speaks out against PCB, goes partying and hangs out with Bollywood.

He was offered a lucrative sum by ICL to play for them. He refused because he wanted to play for Pakistan. But as of this moment (when this article is going to print) his career with the Pakistani team is hanging by a thread.

Shoaib went on record criticizing PCB's policies in the wake of the nice lil' contract and since he has violated 'code of conduct' he has a week to present his case. Shoaib being the man he is, lashed out and didn't take the retainer offer.

Shoaib Akhtar's career is plagued with controversies and he is at fault in many ways. But he is also a massive star. PCB may have overlooked that fact but Indians didn't. Shah Rukh Khan met him in India and convinced him to sign up for IPL. King Khan got Shoaib on his team. The captain of SRK's team, Sourav Ganguly while speaking on the team said about Shoaib "Shoaib Akhtar is one of cricket's leading pace bowlers" and even defended him back in India when Shoaib had fallen sick.

Every player, at some point or the other, has fitness problems. Often cricketers disappoint and don't perform. Men like Shoaib are a bit unpredictable and undisciplined. You don't ban them. You don't embarrass them and insult national heroes. You work with them. But sadly, this is our history since the team was revamped after 2003.

The solution
"The ICL issue and Shoaib Akhtar both have been mishandled by the PCB," says Khalid Hussain, Sports Editor for The News. "IPL had BCCI's blessing whereas ICL didn't. But this rigid attitude of banning so many Pakistani cricketers is too harsh. It should've been worked out. Shoaib Akhtar is a star. There is no doubt that Shoaib is far from perfect. But the only reason he's managed to still stay here is because of the support he has had from various powerful people. President Musharraf is fond of him and so is Asif Ali Zardari. Perhaps this is why he gets away with quite a few stunts. That said, his issue should've been handled more delicately. These constant changes - ban him, keep him - is not the right way to go."

A lot of cricket fans feel that the only person who can save Pakistani cricket from disintegrating in Imran Khan who singularly commanded the respect of every player during his tenure as captain and who still does. However, even though he remains a leading authority on cricket even though he isn't actively involved in the game. Now that he has taken a back seat in politics, perhaps he could help out with the woes of our cricketing team. After all, he is the only one that even the 'bad boy' of our cricket team Shoaib looks up to and that will help PCB as well as Shoaib. But will Imran Khan listen?

One hopes he does, because for the Pakistani cricketing fan watching Lahore Badshahs play seems to be a far more exciting prospect than watching our own team play. And that does not augur well for cricket in Pakistan. The time to gear up is upon us and the powers that be better act soon, before we lose all our cricketing stars and it's too late to bring them back.