Mohammad Yousuf joins the ICL, but had he ever gone away?

A little over a year after speculation began that Mohammad Yousuf had joined the Indian Cricket League, he confirmed the news in a press conference yesterday.

Yousuf and the ICL go back a fair distance. First, he joined the ICL. Then, faced with the possibility of the PCB banning him, he backed out and wanted to join the Indian Premier League. After that, he was dragged to court by the ICL since he had obviously reneged on a contractual obligation.

Then, he couldn't play in the IPL tournament earlier this year since the ICL folks correctly reckoned that he would be breaching the contractual obligation if he played in that tournament. Meanwhile, since he had informed the PCB that he was no longer associated with the ICL, he was picked for series against South Africa and India where he failed in the tests but did very well in the ODIs.

Despite the PCB fighting his case against the ICL on his behalf, he has now opted to join the ICL, barely a day after being named in an ODI squad against the West Indies. The Pakistan Cricket Board has obviously banned him now.

In other news, a Lahore court lifted the life ban on Saleem Malik imposed as a result of the Justice Qayyum investigation into the match fixing controversy. Once that was out of the way, he declared that he had been offered the post of the head coach of the National Cricket Academy, which the PCB denied.

Meanwhile, when he came to know about Malik's claim, Rashid Latif promptly resigned, and as is expected with Pakistan cricket, reversed his decision within a day.

Pakistan cricket could be going through a very tough phase potentially lasting a year at least! The national side is ranked six in tests and ODIs. There's no cricket scheduled in Pakistan for the foreseeable future aside from the series against India.

There was a change in the PCB administration following the presidential election. There has been a change in the coach before the tenure ended (Intikhab Alam replacing Geoff Lawson). The current captain is being pilloried by everyone, and not everyone in the cricketing circles is convinced he can hold his place in the test side. Two of their stalwart bowlers, Mushtaq Ahmed & Waqar Younis, have been lured away for coaching positions with the ECB.

Labels: indian cricket league, mohammad yousuf, pakistan, saleem malik, twenty20