Yousuf: From the ICL now on to IPL
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
By our correspondent
KARACHI: After ditching the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL), Pakistani batting star Mohammad Yousuf has signed a contract to play in the official Indian Premier League (IPL),
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Nasim Ashraf told ‘The News’ on Tuesday that after signing a central contract with the PCB last week, Yousuf also inked a contract to feature in the IPL to be run by the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).
Ashraf rejected speculations that Yousuf might still play in the rebel ICL saying that the player will continue playing for Pakistan and will later be one of the star attractions in the IPL.
“There is no way Yousuf is going to play in the ICL,” he said. “Yousuf has signed a contract with the ILP and anybody is saying that he will play in the ICL to avoid financial losses they must know that the IPL will pay him handsomely.”
The IPL is scheduled to be launched next April and will feature eight franchises in the first season, with each team playing seven home and away games against one another. At the end of a 56-game regular season, the top four teams will then face off in the semifinals which will culminate in a grand final. The IPL hopes to grow the eight franchises to 16 by 2010.
When asked whether he felt let down by Yousuf when the batsman pulled out of the opening Test against South Africa at the last moment, Ashraf said that the “player decided what was best for him and the team”.
“Yousuf is an experienced cricketer. He became aware that he was not fully fit to play for five continuous days which is why he informed the team management about his decision to withdraw from the Test match.
“Yousuf said that he was pulling out to avoid suffering from an injury,” said Ashraf.
The PCB chief pointed out that Pakistan cannot afford to lose their most prolific batsman at a time when they are playing in a home series against South Africa and just weeks before they go on an important tour of India later this year.
Ashraf was hopeful that Yousuf will return to the Pakistan line-up for the second test starting in Lahore from October. “Yousuf is working hard with his trainer and we are all hoping that he will be fully fit in time to play in the second Test.”