Don't see the fuss being made about pakistani players not being purchased for IPL3. I mean it's openly known that India and pakistan's relations died when the Mumbai attacks occurs. It wouldn't be correct to welcome players from a country that India has no relations with/or isn't going to have relations with in the near future.
Warne requested Lumb be signed, and Warne doesn't usually back poor players. He did the same last year, when he requested Kamran Khan be signed. He was a total unknown in India. He was pretty successful, before he got injured.
If the IPL's of cricket was so low, why would all the world best players want to play in the tournament? Warne openly said that playing in the IPL was only below playing Test cricket. The playing standard of the IPl is much better than the T20 cup in England, that's for sure. The main aim of the IPL was to develop young Indian cricketers against the premier players in the world. It's not just a meal ticket for the International players. Also if the International players don't play(if in the squad at the time, not unavailable due to injury or International commitments) then they only received 25-50% for their purchase price.