Pakistan cricket authorities announced on Wednesday that all players who featured in a rebel Indian league will be banned from domestic matches. Several stars, including former national skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, signed up to play in the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL) despite warnings of future restrictions.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) communications director Ahsan Malik said the ICL players were now ineligible to play in PCB-organised events. The rebel players have just returned from India, where the inaugural Twenty20 ICL championship was held.
"We have added a clause to the domestic playing conditions rule, according to which any player featuring in any unauthorised event in Pakistan or abroad will not be eligible to play in our events," Malik told AFP.
The rebel players, including Inzamam, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Shabbir Ahmed, Azhar Mahmood and Taufiq Umar, were blocked from the last round of domestic tournament matches which began on Wednesday. The breakaway Twenty20 ICL is not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the International Cricket Council.
Inzamam played his last Test-against South Africa in Lahore in October this year-after signing with the ICL. He quit Test cricket after the match and said he has no intention of returning to first-class cricket.
Another Pakistan star, Mohammad Yousuf, faces legal action in India after withdrawing from a signed contract with the ICL. He has instead signed for the BBCI-backed Indian Premier League due to start in April next year. Malik said the new ban will be approved at the PCB governing body's meeting next month.
Farhat, whose domestic team Habib Bank started a first-class match from Wednesday, said the players would defy the ban. "It's not on, the PCB cannot stop us from playing and from earning our livelihood," he told AFP.
Farhat, who played the last of his 33 Tests earlier this year, said he and some of his ICL colleagues are meeting a lawyer to take the matter to court. "We feel the PCB is unjust on stopping us from playing domestic cricket," said Farhat. "We have a Pentangular event and Twenty20 event in Pakistan and to stage a comeback in the Pakistan team we need to play in these events."