Mohammad Yousuf signs up again with ICL

[shabbir]

Mohammad Yousuf has signed up again with the ICL, in what represents undoubtedly, one of the unauthorised Twenty20 League's biggest coups.

Though an official announcement will not be made till Tuesday, Cricinfo has learnt that the Pakistani batsman has arrived in Delhi ahead of the unveiling on Tuesday. And ICL sources confirmed to Cricinfo that Yousuf had signed up to play in the ongoing second season.

[Tintin]

ROTFL !!!!!!!

(Pardon the short post)

[auntu]

Bad decision by Yousuf.

[Tintin]

Originally Posted by auntu
Bad decision by Yousuf.

It is okay. This is about 37th time that he joined ICL. Wait for a couple of hours and he may have withdrawn his decision by then

[auntu]

Originally Posted by Tintin
It is okay. This is about 37th time that he joined ICL. Wait for a couple of hours and he may have withdrawn his decision by then

I hope so. I don't want to see his Test career ends now.

[BANFAN]

It is perfectly ok for him to join ICL, why not? He is almost at the end of his career. He is not being able to play in IPL either.

[mahbubH]

Everybody likes $$$!

[ahaque]

Mohammad Yousuf is on the verge of signing up again with the ICL, in what will represent one of the league's biggest coups. The news comes on a day that he was named in a 15-man squad to take on West Indies in three ODIs later this month in Abu Dhabi.

Although the ICL is yet to make an official announcement, Cricinfo has learnt that Yousuf has arrived in Delhi ahead of final talks with top league officials on Tuesday. And ICL sources confirmed to Cricinfo that he was close to signing up to play in the ongoing second season. It is not yet known which team he will play for.

When contacted, the PCB said it was trying to confirm whether Yousuf had joined the ICL, before taking any action. "We called his family home after hearing of these reports. They told us he has gone to India to play cricket," Zakir Khan, the PCB's director of cricket operations, told Cricinfo. "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."

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.

The IPL, meanwhile, is looking at the legal options available. "I don't have the papers with me but we will be definitely exploring all legal options," Niranjan Shah, the IPL's vice-chairman, told Cricinfo.

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.

But the present administration - not available for comment currently - has hinted at a different, though not yet fully-formed, stance. At his first press conference after taking over as chairman, Ijaz Butt said the bans on ICL players would have to be looked at again as he didn't see a difference between the ICL and the IPL. Inzamam-ul-Haq, currently leading the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, has been in touch with Butt directly about the issue and is likely to pursue it in an effort to allow players back into the national fold. Zakir Khan, though, maintained that the PCB's policy on ICL "remains the same".

Yousuf's limited-overs future has been the subject of increasing debate in Pakistan, despite 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.

I have always considered him one of the top batsmen for pakistan as far as experience and skill goes. I would be very shocked if he joined.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/icl2...ry/376797.html

[Nafi]

The more high profile players that join, the sooner the ICL is recognised by the ICC

[mahbubH]

Originally Posted by Nafi
The more high profile players that join, the sooner the ICL is recognised by the ICC

ICL will be never recognized by ICC without the recommendation from BCCI which will never happen.

[cricman]

*Goes to Pakpassion*

[hoodlum]

i came to know that ICL players wont be able to take part in the county cricket from now on...things are going worst atm for ICL and its players.

[Tigers_eye]

Pure comedy.

1st signs with ICL, takes cash.
Then PCB begs and returns the cash.
Then signs with IPL take cash. (signing bonus $125,000)
Then ICL petitions and he can't play at IPL and can't make any more money.
So decides to go back to ICL without returning cash. I bet he thought signing bonuses are his to keep.
+++
Future events that will follow:
IPL will sue and he can't play for ICL and will have to return cash. Even if he retires now from Pak Team he can't play anywhere. lol. Let BCL (Bangladesh Cricket League) get in to the mix and offer him to be the batting coach of one of the divisional teams.

See everything ends up with Cash or money. What a shame. Holding up his share to defame Pakistani cricket more and more.

[Sovik]

atleast he will get to play some cricket

[Tintin]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
Future events that will follow:
IPL will sue and he can't play for ICL and will have to return cash. Even if he retires now from Pak Team he can't play anywhere. lol. Let BCL (Bangladesh Cricket League) get in to the mix and offer him to be the batting coach of one of the divisional teams.

The future is already in progress -

"IPL threatens to take legal course against Yousuf"
http://cricketnext.in.com/news/ipl-t.../35316-13.html

[KnightBD]

I hope he does not play for Lahore Badshah in their very next game which is with DW !!! LB's batting will get much stronger if he plays, that might sink DW's hope-boat for semis

[auntu]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
Pure comedy.

1st signs with ICL, takes cash.
Then PCB begs and returns the cash.
Then signs with IPL take cash. (signing bonus $125,000)
Then ICL petitions and he can't play at IPL and can't make any more money.
So decides to go back to ICL without returning cash. I bet he thought signing bonuses are his to keep.
+++
Future events that will follow:
IPL will sue and he can't play for ICL and will have to return cash. Even if he retires now from Pak Team he can't play anywhere. lol. Let BCL (Bangladesh Cricket League) get in to the mix and offer him to be the batting coach of one of the divisional teams.

See everything ends up with Cash or money. What a shame. Holding up his share to defame Pakistani cricket more and more.

There is a solid chance for BD National League to take him . But still I feel bad for him. These incidents are not his fault.

[istiak]

Originally Posted by auntu
There is a solid chance for BD National League to take him . But still I feel bad for him. These incidents are not his fault.

Whos fault it was then? mine?

[mahbubH]

Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf has joined the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL), in a move that could jeopardise his international future. He is now unlikely to play in the three one-dayers against the West Indies, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Monday.

"His wife told us on the telephone that he has left for India today to play in the ICL," PCB director of operations Zakir Khan said.

"But we will wait for facts and figures before taking any action against him."

The PCB has a strict policy of banning all players who have joined the ICL - a Twenty20 league which is bankrolled by India's largest media group, Zee television, and not recognised by world cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council.

Yousuf had been set to join the ICL when it was set up in 2007 after he was left out of the Pakistan squad for the World Twenty20 tournament.

But after talks with former PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf, he agreed to forego the move and remain eligible for Pakistan.

However, several former Pakistan players, including ex-skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, all-rounders Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood, pacemen Shabbir Ahmed and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, and opener Imran Farhat, are still playing in the ICL and are thus barred from national selection by the PCB.

Yousuf left for New Delhi on Monday from Lahore just hours after he was named in a 15-strong Pakistan squad for the three-match one-day series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi from 12-16 November.
"He did not inform us about his travel plans to India and we are trying to contact him directly," Khan added.
Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam, recently appointed to succeed Geoff Lawson, said the team has enough reserve players to replace Yousuf for the series in Abu Dhabi.

Opener Nasir Jamshed will have a fitness test before departing as he has just recovered from a bout of malaria.

[mahbubH]

So ICL is not recognised by ICC. Then why there is no harm of participating the tournament. Some posters argue here in the line that players can play ICL but seems ICC did not recognise the tournament yet! Those play in an unauthorised tournament instead of the national team (to earn easy $$) are just traitor to me.

[auntu]

Originally Posted by istiak
Whos fault it was then? mine?

So u r his adviser? hmm

[PlanetPak]

Excellent news for world cricket because this would strength ICL's case(lets Moyo doesn't change his fragile mind again)

The ICC lawyers have already said that they will be screwed if ICL sues them.

[RazabQ]

Playing for the national team if selected is NOT mandatory. Why do people not understand that? One could make the argument that for players who have come up entirely through a board's pipe-line (i.e. U-16, U-19, Academy and A team) there should be some mandatory period of service (minimum X international matches of Y years) just like one expects when given a signing bonus. Beyond that, these people are no more traitors than those of us who are living abroad for a better opportunity.

Note for those who are comprehension challenged: this means I consider NEITHER ICLers nor প্রবাসিs as traitors.

[yaseer]

which team he is going to play for? Lahore badshah or other team?

[mahbubH]

Pakistan ban Yousuf for joining rebel league

KARACHI, Nov 5 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf has been banned from playing for Pakistan after joining the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL), officials said on Wednesday.

"(While) he is contracted to the ICL our policy is clear he can't play for or in Pakistan, just like the other players who joined the league," Zakir Khan, director of cricket operations for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) told the media in Lahore.

Yousuf, 34, surprised the PCB by abruptly leaving for India to join the unofficial Twenty20 league after being named on Monday in a squad to play three one-dayers against West Indies in Abu Dhabi next week.

"I know I can't play for Pakistan," Yousuf told a news conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, before the ban was announced. "I want to play, but the decision is up to them (PCB). Whatever, my performance shows I can play all forms of cricket."

Pakistan's premier batsman has played 79 tests, scoring 6,770 runs at a superb average of 55.49, with 23 centuries.

Khan said the board had banned Yousuf from playing for the national team and in any tournament in Pakistan that was organised or approved by the board. It had also cancelled his central contract.

"There will be no exception made for Yousuf to the board's policy on the ICL which will remain the same until it is changed by the ICC (International Cricket Council)," he added.

The PCB, like the other member boards of the ICC, does not recognise the new league which is bankrolled by one of India's largest media firms.

Despite the board's strong line, 18 players from Pakistan have signed contracts with the ICL, including former captains Inzamam-ul-Haq and Moin Khan and top players Abdul Razzak, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naved, Imran Nazir and Mohammad Sami.

Khan said Yousuf would be replaced in the squad to go to Abu Dhabi for the games on Nov. 12, 14 and 16, most probably by young batsman Khalid Latif.

ICL organisers had filed a legal case for breach of contract after Yousuf, who signed up last year, tried to switch to the official Indian Premier League.

ICL officials said they were now withdrawing the case.

"I made a mistake so I have come back," Yousuf said on Wednesday. "I didn't talk to the PCB chairman."

Yousuf will play for the Lahore Badshahs team led by Inzamam in the ongoing ICL competition.