Pakistan players cleared for IPL

Pakistan's players have been cleared to participate in the 2010 season of the IPL after receiving the final government clearance they needed, from their country's interior ministry.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan's foreign ministry cleared the players' involvement in the Indian league and the interior ministry's clearance means the PCB can now issue the no-objection certificates (NOCS) that would allow them to play in the tournament.

"The sports and foreign ministries had already given their clearance ... we were awaiting security clearance from the interior ministry, which we have got now," PCB media manager Nadeem Sarwar told Reuters. "We have been told we can issue NOCs to the players now."

The deadline for the submission of the NOCs to the IPL was extended to December 7.

Eleven Pakistani players - including Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul, the stars of Pakistan's 2009 World Twenty20 campaign - were recruited by the Kolkata, Rajasthan, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore franchises before the inaugural IPL.

However, Pakistan's players were absent from the second IPL, held earlier this year in South Africa, after their government did not allow them to travel to India - where the tournament was originally to be held - for security reasons. The franchises then opted to retain the contracts of only four of them - Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan), Misbah-ul-Haq (Bangalore) and Gul (Kolkata) .

Most franchises will, however, seek their return in the league's 2010 edition after Pakistan's success in the ICC World Twenty20 in June.

The third season of the IPL will be held in India and it begins on March 12, 2010.