| Player: | Riaz Afridi, Humayun Farhat, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir |
DateLine: 17th February 2009
A Pakistani court on Tuesday lifted domestic bans on the country's last six active players who joined the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL). Seventeen ICL rebels are now free to play domestic cricket in Pakistan but remain barred from international matches until they are cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Humayun Farhat, Riaz Afridi, Arshad Khan and Taufeeq Umar got their bans suspended by the court and are now free to play in domestic matches," the players' lawyer Zahid Fakhruddin said. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) respected the decision and cleared the players for domestic matches. Eleven players were reprieved last week, nine of whom featured in the latest round of Pakistan's premier Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
A total of 19 Pakistani players featured in the ICL, which is bankrolled by India's largest media group, Zee Television, but not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India or the ICC. Former Pakistan capital Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saqlain Mushtaq are the only players who remain barred from domestic cricket, but both are now retired.
