With the advent of 20-20
cricket, we see more and more multinational companies showing interest for
sponsorship. Thus the shorter version of the game has provided ample
opportunities for players to earn a good living in short span of time.
Seeing the success of inaugural T Twenty world cup, India took the initiative to
start IPL with backing from ICC. Parallel to this tournament, we have ICL
with Kapil Dev at the helm of affairs but no backing from ICC or BCCI.
Thus it has created a confusion. The big question is what will be the future of
players playing in the ICL? As ICL is not supported by ICC ,All boards have
declared that any player participating in this so called rebel league will be
banned from not only playing international but also first class cricket.
Pakistan is no exception to this. Pcb has banned players like Razzaq,
Nazir, Farhat, Naved who definitely can serve Pakistan .
I totally disagree with the stance taken by PCB. In ICL there are mostly
those players who are at the verge of retirement or who have few years left in
them. My query is, if these players can earn good money then what is wrong
with it? In this whole controversy, the role of ICC is also biased. We
have seen teams backing out of international tours because they want to play IPL.
The cancellation of Sri lanka vs England series is clear example of this.
For ICC, it does not matter if IPL is affecting International tours. But
just because BCCI is backing IPL, ICC is reluctant to recognize ICL. As BCCI is
financial hub of cricket so respective boards of cricket playing nations have
banned ICL players because they do not want tussle with BCCI.
Banning ICL players is not a solution. Adopting a noble profession is
fundamental right of every citizen of Pakistan guaranteed in the constitution.
As long as dates of ICL tournaments is not clashing with Pakistani cricket
season, I do not see any reason of banning these talented players.
Rather than trying to please BCCI, PCB should see the interest of their
cricketers. Most Pakistani players are uneducated. After retirement,
they do not have requsite skills to adopt any other profession. So our
board should allow them to earn from the profession which they are good at.
For this purpose, PCB should change its policy and ICL players should be allowed
to enter First class and International arena.