Pakistan have extended a deadline for players to sign their new binding central contracts by five days because senior players Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan and Danish Kaneria have yet to sign.
Yousuf, Razzaq and Kaneria were not picked for next month's inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa and Razzaq said he had received an offer to play in the breakaway Indian Twenty20 league (ICL).
"The players were supposed to sign the contracts by August 10. but we have extended the deadline to the 15th because four of them have only received their copies now," said Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Ehsan Malik. Razzaq, who has appeared in 231 one-day internationals and 46 Tests, confirmed he had got an offer from ICL.
Yousuf and Razzaq left a training camp in Karachi early with the former saying he wanted to be with his ailing mother and the latter citing a stomach complaint.
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who has not been given a new central contract, said he had been offered around $50,000 a month to play in the ICL. "It is a good offer and I am keen about it. But at the same time I want a situation where I can come back and play for Pakistan in Test matches," he said. The Pakistan board has said it would not consider any players for future selection or positions if they played in the ICL.