Banned Pak players to play against Hong Kong

KARACHI: In a surprise move, Pakistan Cricket Board has named Shabbir Ahmed and Rana Naved, who are contracted with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), to play for WAPDA against Hong Kong in a practice One-day game at the Bagh-e-Jinnah ground in Lahore on Wednesday.
The duo were among the 16 players who have contracts with the ICL and have thus been banned from playing domestic cricket tournaments in Pakistan.The ban extends to all tournaments and matches organised by the PCB.
Since the Hong Kong team is touring Pakistan to play One-day games to prepare for the forthcoming Asia Cup, the matches they play certainly come under the preview of the Board.
Sources in the Board said that the domestic ban does not apply to Twenty20 cricket but the match being played on Bagh-e-Jinnah is a 50-overs affair.
"We don't know if the Board has cleared Shabbir, who is going to captain WAPDA, and Rana to play against Hong Kong," one source said.
"But it will be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday as the Board had specifically sent letters to all its affiliated units including WAPDA telling them all players who took part in the unauthorised tournaments or leagues (including ICL) were not eligible to play in domestic cricket.
Sources said the leeway for Shabbir and Rana might have come after Tuesday���s governing body meeting in Islamabad where some members did raise the issue of the continuing domestic ban on the ICL players.
Former players including Javed Miandad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, Rashid Latif have all called on the Board to remove the bans on the ICL players and allow them to play domestic cricket.
"It makes no sense to stop a cricketer from earning his livelihood and endangering his job with an organisation or department by banning him from domestic cricket," Miandad said.
"That too in a country where unemployment is a big problem and people are even committing suicide because of poverty," he said.
Sarfraz also called on the Board to review the ban and said the government should step in to resolve the issue and prevent the careers of the players from being destroyed completely.
Sources said the PCB might be considering relaxing the restrictions on the ICL players in view of the developments in other countries like England and New Zealand where the ICL players are being allowed to play at home.
"This could be one reason why the ICL players have also avoided filing a case in court against the PCB ban," one source said.