muhammad Yousuf on verge of rejoining rebel ICL

[moonjee06]

KARACHI: Pakistan"s new cricket regime faced its first major headache on Monday when it was revealed that their star batsman Mohammad Yousuf is on the verge of signing a contract with the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Yousuf landed in New Delhi on Monday afternoon and is now all set to ink a lucrative deal with the rebel league on Tuesday (today) to feature in the ongoing ICL season.PCB officials were left shocked by Yousuf as they had named him in a 15-man Pakistan squad for the one-day series against the West Indies Abu Dhabi earlier in the day.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt refused to comment on the issue. "We will tell you about it tomorrow," Butt told "The News".However, another Board official said that they have received information about Yousuf"s ICL connection.

"We were not informed by Yousuf that he was going to India," Zakir Khan, PCB"s director of cricket operations, told reporters in Lahore."But after learning about it, we contacted his family and his wife has confirmed he has gone to India to play in the ICL," added the former Pakistan Test cricketer.

"We want to get in touch with him, as we have not been told anything, to see what the facts of the situation are before we take any further steps," said Zakir.The PCB official made it clear that if it"s confirmed that Yousuf has signed a contract to play in the ICL, he would be banned from playing for or in Pakistan like all other ICL rebels including former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq and senior all-rounder Abdul Razzaq.

"Our policy about ICL is very clear and it will be the same for everybody including him (Yousuf)," said Zakir.Cricinfo adds: Some important legal questions remain unanswered at the moment, for the ICL"s latest acquisition is a long-running saga. Yousuf had initially signed up with the league in September 2007, in protest at being axed from Pakistan"s squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

He was later lured out of playing in the ICL by the Pakistan board, with the promise of a lucrative contract in the IPL. But the ICL took the matter to an arbitration court in Mumbai, arguing that as Yousuf had signed up with them, he was ineligible to play for any other league.

A stay order was passed against Yousuf"s participation in the IPL, though an appeal was later filed by the PCB on Yousuf"s behalf in the Bombay High Court. There the matter has so far remained.

Also in the spotlight will come Yousuf"s international future with Pakistan. All boards around the world have taken their cue from the BCCI in barring ICL-contracted players from playing for the national team, or in some cases, even domestic sides.

The PCB was no different: under the previous chairman Nasim Ashraf, all of Pakistan"s ICL players have been barred from representing Pakistan or playing domestic cricket. As per that policy, Yousuf will not represent Pakistan again which will put their selectors in a fix, having just announced the squad.

Yousuf"s limited overs future has been the subject of increasing debate in Pakistan, in spite of a stellar record in recent years. His relatively poor fielding skills have been held against him regularly, as are his advancing years now. He has been open in his criticisms of this view, recently hitting out at the previous selection committee for continuing to ignore him from the Twenty20 side. That attack prompted the committee to select him for the Twenty20 tournament in Canada in August, though ultimately Yousuf couldn"t go because of problems with his visa.

Meanwhile, Indian Premier League official and former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah has threatened to take legal course against Mohammad Yousuf if the Pakistani batsman returned to the ICL.

Shah has claimed that the IPL reserved the right to take legal action against Yousuf as he had been paid an advance of $125,000 for joining them. Even if he had not played in the League for any team, he was a contracted player with them.

"We reserve the right to take legal action against him if he has joined the Indian Cricket League," Shah told Geo News. The Indian board official said Yousuf was given a contract by the IPL on the insistence of the Pakistan Cricket Board which was keen he get a chance to play in the league after he broke away from the ICL in late 2007.