By Xinhua
Islamabad : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reiterated its stand that players who join the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) won’t play for the country in future.
Pakistan’s Nation newspaper Tuesday quoted PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi as saying that the board would be unable to take any action unless they had confirmation about who had signed a deal with ICL.
However, he reacted strongly to the reports that four of the Pakistan players had joined the ICL.
“The players who have signed with ICL will not be considered for selection in the national team and instead they would be facing lifetime ban,” he said.
PCB operations director Zakir Khan and marketing director Ahsan Hameed were also present at the media briefing.
Naghmi further stated that he had directed the board to reply to Imran Farhat’s allegations.
Farhat alleged that he was forced to sign PCB’s central contract without being provided details of the deal.
“If someone does not want to stay with us, we won’t force him. PCB’s policy on every matter is clear,” Naghmi said.
He felt that the board had invested in the players and their playing for some other organisation was not acceptable.
“I hope Mohammad Yousuf will prefer his country which requires him the most,” said he.
Mohammad Yousuf, when contacted, confirmed signing with ICL. “Yes I have signed for league cricket in India,” he said.
The 32-year-old batsman, who set a new world record of 1,788 runs in a calendar year in 2006, was omitted from Pakistan’s squad for next month’s inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.
But he said signing with ICL had nothing to do with his omission from the team.
“So many Pakistani players play county cricket in England and skip national duty, so what if I am playing for the Indian league. It is not due to my omission,” said Yousuf, regarded as one of the world’s top batsman.