Pakistan cricket plunged into new crisis with Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood and Imran Farhat finalising deals to play in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

One of the players told PTI on condition of anonymity that the deal was done but the ICL had restricted them from making any announcements.

“The signings will be announced by the ICL themselves this week. We are not supposed to disclose anything,” he said.

However, a Pakistan Cricket Board official refused to believe that these players have signed the ICL contracts.

“I can understand Azhar Mahmood, Inzamam or even Farhat signing to play in the ICL but I doubt it if Yousuf and Razzaq would sign up because they are still leading players for us and certain selections for our test and one-day teams,” the official said.

Razzaq, Azhar and Inzamam are in London at the moment and were not available for their comments.

The Pakistani selectors had dropped Razzaq and Yousuf for the Twenty20 World Cup being held in South Africa next month.

Inzy’s father confirms
Earlier, Inzamam’s father had confirmed that his son had indeed signed up for the ICL.

“He is in London where he has to gone to play for Yorkshire. But yes, he has signed with the ICL. That is what he told me when I last spoke to him,” he said.

The PCB has said it would not consider any player who is contracted to them for future selection if he plays in the Indian league.

Inzamam was the first Pakistani player to get an offer from the ICL and had made it clear he was interested in playing for the league as it gave him an opportunity to keep in touch with the game and earn some good money.

Inzamam has not been given a central contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board after he retired from ODIs.

Kiwi pat
New Zealand’s Cricket Players’ Association (NZCPA) has urged the ICC to recognise the Indian Cricket League (ICL) as not sanctioning the rebel series could lead to an exodus of top Kiwi players, adds PTI from Christchurch Heath Mills, chief of the NZCPA, said they are more at risk from the rebel series as the players might find the million dollar offer too lucrative to reject.

“They’re paying their players close to a million a year so it’s a no-brainer. But a guy who is near the top of the retainer list and plays most games a year is looking at USD 250,000 maximum. That makes us vulnerable,” Mills said.

Mills said while Australia, England and South Africa had the money to stop their players from joining ICL, New Zealand Cricket would not be able to retain its top players.

“What would concern me greatly was if the league was not sanctioned and it became a ‘rebel’ league. Our guys would be hugely at risk,” Mills told New Zealand Herald.

Rumours are rife that ex-skipper Stephen Fleming may bid adieu to his international career to play in the league, while retired Test stars Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns are also reportedly on the verge of signing up with the Twenty20 series set to take off in October.

Squad likely today
Meanwhile, the organisers of the ICL are expected to lay the cards on the table in Mumbai on Monday by revealing the names of the players who have signed up for the rebel cash-rich event, adds PTI from Mumbai.

Reports are doing rounds that Punjab Ranji skipper Dinesh Mongia, Railways all-rounder JP Yadav, Mumbaikars Amol Muzumdar and Nilesh Kulkarni and the Delhi trio of Aakash Chopra, Amit Bhandari and Vijay Dahiya are ready to jump on to the bandwagon.

From Bengal, former India stumper Deep Dasgupta is widely believed to have taken the plunge as well.

UP trio of Shalabh Srivastava, Ali Murtaza and Avinash Yadav have also reportedly sided with the rebel league.