Monday, April 13, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Former pace great Waqar Younis has questioned the national commitment of those Pakistan players who are competing in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League.
The future of ICL players will come up for discussion when the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) executive board meets in Dubai on April 17-18.
Currently all ICL players are ineligible for their national teams, as the ICL Twenty20 competition runs in opposition to the officially recognised Indian Premier League.
Those Pakistan players in the ICL have been critical of the international ban, but Waqar said they should have put their country ahead of the ICL.
“I am a strong believer that a cricketer should be permitted to play anywhere, but in this (ICL) case I think somewhere there is a doubt,” Younis told reporters. “It means country was not dear to you before (joining the ICL).”
Ex-Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq leads the Lahore Badshahs team in the ICL, which is made up of Pakistani players and won the even last year.
Batsmen Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf, all-rounders Rana Naved, Abdul Razzaq, pacemen Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammad Sami are among the 19 Pakistani players in the ICL.
Last Tuesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board pulled Nazir, Naved and Razzaq out of an enlarged national squad for the World Twenty20, just a day after having included them - illustrating the confusion of the status of ICL players.
There is a difference between ICL and IPL.
Lets say if there's no interruption in ICL events, then what would be the response of these players? Would they be as enthusiastic as they are right now to play for Pakistan?
doesnt matter.. you're still playing for an indian league for a largely indian audience.
the vagaries of PCB and interboard nok jhonk has nothing to do with the patriotism of an act. the difference between jalundhar knights and bihari princes is only that PCB doesnt get bullied for one of the teams?