PCB’s green signal;Yousuf gets ICL notice

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today cleared seven of their leading players including Mohammad Yousuf, pacer Mohammad Asif and Inzamam-ul Haq to sign contracts with the Indian Premier League (IPL). “Shoaib Akhtar has also been approached while Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik have also shown interest and we have no issue with them going to play in the league,” Shafqat Naghmi who is the chief executive of the board said.

In another development, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) today sent a legal notice to Pakistan’s prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf for breach of contract following his decision to pull out of its league.

Yousuf had initially signed the contract to play in the ICL’s proposed Twenty20 tournament in November but changed his mind and aligned with the IPL, the cash-rich venture launched by the BCCI.

The Pakistani middle order batsman reversed the decision after a recent meeting with the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naseem Ashraf, who had also assured Yousuf that the PCB would take care of the legal hassles that may arise for not honouring the ICL commitment.