Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has criticized the Pakistan Cricket Board as "unprofessional" for its changing attitude to the eligibility of Indian Cricket League players for the national team. Earlier this week, the PCB named three ICL players Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir in its extended squad ahead of the World Twenty20, but then reversed the decision due to doubts over the eligibility of players from the unauthorized ICL. "The Pakistan board should not have announced the list if they were not clear about all aspects of the selection," Inzamam told website cricinfo.com on Friday.
All ICL players have been suspended by their national boards and are therefore unable to represent their countries in international matches. The ICL runs in competition to the officially recognized Indian Premier League.
The future of ICL players will come up for discussion when the International Cricket Council's executive board meets in Dubai next week."One day they announced the list, and the next day they reversed it. This is the result of unprofessional thinking by the board and the selectors. "If the PCB didn't have an ICC clearance, it had no right to name these players in the list and then tell them after a day that 'Look, we don't respect you'."
Inzamam leads a Pakistan side Lahore Badshahs in the ICL which won the tournament last year. Inzamam played 120 tests before retiring in 2007 after scoring 8,830 runs. He also scored 11,739 runs in 378 one-day internationals.
Inzamam also came down hard on the ICC for planning stricter rules from June 1 on all the players competing in unauthorized tournaments. "The ICC is just scared that the money they generate from the game should not go to others," Inzamam said.
{{/usCountry}}Inzamam also came down hard on the ICC for planning stricter rules from June 1 on all the players competing in unauthorized tournaments. "The ICC is just scared that the money they generate from the game should not go to others," Inzamam said.
{{/usCountry}}"During the days when there was not so much money in cricket, players used to play in tournaments which had no official status in countries like Bangladesh; the ICC had no problems. "The ICC is just worried that their sponsorship money would splinter. The ICC is worried about ICL only because of the money, otherwise they know these players are only playing cricket and not committing any crime."