PCB bans six players from domestic cricket for playing in rebel ICL
The News International: Latest News Breaking, World, Entertainment, Royal News
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
By Khalid Hussain
KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Nasim Ashraf on Monday told the players who opted to feature in the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL) that they cannot represent Pakistan or play domestic cricket at home. “When those players signed up to play in the ICL and went to India to take part in that tournament they were fully aware of the consequences,” Ashraf told ‘The News’.
“We were very clear about our policy about the ICL and they (the players) knew that they would be automatically banned from playing cricket in Pakistan if they took part in the league,” he added.
The Board is not allowing six players — all of them former Test cricketers — to play domestic cricket for their regions or employers after they overlooked a PCB warning and joined the league that was bankrolled by Zee Telefilms, one of India’s biggest media houses.
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Imran Farhat, Shabbir Ahmed and Taufeeq Umar are the six Pakistani players who played in the inaugural edition of the ICL held in Panchkula, India during November-December.
Pakistan’s premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf had also signed up for the ICL but cancelled his contract after being convinced by the PCB chief who wanted him to be available for national duty.
Yousuf instead signed up with the official Indian Premier League (IPL) that will be staged by the Indian cricket board next April. Ashraf said that the policy of banning players recruited by the rebel ICL was uniform all over the cricket world.
“We have banned the (ICL) players in line with the uniform policy adopted by all the leading (cricket) board around the world,” he said. However, the players believe that the PCB’s stance is harsh and some of them are threatening to take legal action against the Board.
“Cricket is our bread and butter. This is a violation of our fundamental rights,” Imran Farhat, a discarded Test opener, said in an interview on Monday. “But we will go to court and get a stay order. They cannot stop us from playing even domestic cricket,” he added.
Taufeeq, also a former Test opener, pointed out that seeking legal help against the ban was the only option available to the players. “Our Pakistan careers are already finished. What else can we do,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters on Monday.