February 05, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 26, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 4: Six more Pakistan cricketers, including three former Test players, have almost finalised the terms and conditions with the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Celebrated spinners of the past Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed while Test reject Humayun Farhat, the second best wicket-keeper of the last Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, are on the list. The other three are Test opener Mohammad Hafeez, Hasan Raza and Naved Latif.

Sources told Dawn that Test opener Imran Nazir was also an ICL candidate, but he has not received an encouraging response from the organisers.

With six more players turning to the breakaway league, the total number of Pakistan players joining the ICL has risen to 11.

Earlier, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat, Shabbir Ahmed and Abdul Razzaq had joined the ICL and they played in its inaugural edition last year.

Prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf had also signed up with the ICL, but later broke the deal after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) persuaded him to rejoin national cricket while offering him a lucrative package.

The PCB has imposed life ban on players joining the ICL. But the situation will not be the same for the new players because, the sources said, the ICL authorities have decided to make amendment in their agreement, allowing any player to play for the country, if his board called him for the national duty.

However, the remuneration for the new players is not so attractive compared to Inzamam and others who joined the ICL last year.

Meanwhile, Inzamam, Imran, Taufiq Umar and Shabbir are preparing their cases to move the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the ban the PCB has imposed on them for playing in the ICL.

Imran and Taufiq had also attempted to get relief from the court, but later withdrew their petition, pinning their hopes on the PCB Governing Board’s meeting held last month.

But the Governing Board did not give them the relief while endorsing the PCB chief Dr Nasim Ashraf’s decision to impose the ban.