Mumbai , Monday, February 08, 2010 : A day after Union Minister Sharad Pawar met Bal Thackeray requesting him to withdraw its threat against Australian cricketers'' participation in IPL, Shiv Sena on Monday said it would take a final call on the issue in two-three days.
"Thackeray would take a final call on the issue of Australian players in two three days," Sena mouthpiece ''Saamana'' said today.
Pawar had met Thackeray at the Sena chief''s ''Matoshree'' residence in Bandra on Sunday night. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar and Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray were also present at the two-hour meeting.
"For me, the country is more important than the game," Saamana quoted Thackeray as telling Pawar.
"I will never tolerate India''s insult," the Sena supremo said.
"We told Balasaheb that the Australian team will not participate in the IPL, but each IPL team will have one or two Australians," Manohar had said last night after the meeting.
"He asked us to give a presentation on how many Australian players will play in the IPL. We will make the presentation in a day or two," Manohar had said.
"Thackeray and he (Uddhav) gave us a considerate hearing. We tried to convince him that only one or two Australian players will participate in the IPL matches and by not allowing all IPL matches it''s the state players (Marathi players) who will lose ultimately," he had told reporters.
The meeting came days after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi took on the Shiv Sena in Bihar and its home turf Mumbai.
"I am not interested in what Uddhav or Bal Thackeray have to say," Rahul Gandhi had said earlier.
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