The likes of Pakistani cricketers such as Shoaib Akhtar, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, and several others participated in the IPL way back in the inaugural edition in 2008. Political tensions between the neighbouring countries led to a ban on Pakistani players participating in the IPL from 2009 onwards. This decision was made amid strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, and it affected the presence of Pakistani cricketers in one of the most popular T20 leagues in the world.
