ICL players turn back to mainstream

Mohammad Yousuf was left out but three of his Indian Cricket League colleagues on Monday were surprisingly picked by Pakistan selectors among 30 probables for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in England this June.

Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir, who featured in the ICL, have been included in Pakistan’s preliminary squad but according to chairman of selectors Abdul Qadir, their final selection will be subject to clearance by the Cricket Board.

“But let me make it clear their final selection depends totally on them being cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which is awaiting guidelines from the International Cricket Council (ICC),” Qadir told a press conference in Lahore.

Regarding the trio’s inclusion in the probables, the former leg-spinner said they were playing domestic cricket and were among the best Twenty20 players in Pakistan.

All-rounders, Razzaq and Naved and destructive opener Nazir have been performing outstandingly on the domestic circuit since they were cleared by the Sindh High Court to play domestic cricket some weeks ago.

Naved and Imran turned out for Lahore Badshahs while Razzaq played for Hyderabad Heroes in the ICL.

However, the selectors chose to ignore senior batsman Yousuf — he also turned out for the Badshahs — despite the fact that he was willing to rescind his contract with the ICL.

The PCB has now asked the ICC and its legal advisors to give a ruling on whether the ICL rebels can make a comeback to the national team without facing any penalties if they cancel their ICL contracts.

Qadir said the selection of these three depended on what the ICC had to say on the issue.

“We were asked to pick the best possible squad for the T20 World Cup and we have done our duty,” he said, putting the ball on the PCB’s court.

The ICC Executive Board will meet on April 16 to debate on Pakistan’s request.

Among those included in the probables were pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.

Akhtar was included after he passed a fitness test while skipper Younis Khan wanted Kaneria in the squad.

“We have also included young leg-spinner Yasir Shah in the probables list and hopefully we will be able to field a strong final 15 for the tournament,” Qadir said.

The selectors have named several youngsters in the probables but also made some surprising exclusions like pace bowler Abdul Rauf and opener Khurrum Manzoor, who recently played in the one-day and Test series against Sri Lanka.

Qadir said Rauf was not considered since he was not fit.

Pakistan probables for T20 World Cup: Younis Khan (captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Shahzab Hasan, Umar Amin, Ahmed Shahzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Kamran Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Aitzaz Cheema, Mohammad Aamir, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Danish Kaneria, Yasir Shah, Kamran Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved, Imran Nazir, Abdul Rehman.
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