PCB to lift ban on its ICL players

The Pakistan Cricket Board said Wednesday it will respect a Sindh High Court decision lifting the ban on its players competing in the non-sanctioned Indian Cricket League.

"We bow before the order of the court," PCB lawyer Shaan Gul told reporters. The hearing of case was adjourned Wednesday until Feb. 25, but Gul said the PCB would recognize an interim stay on the ban, and all the 11 players who filed the case were eligible to compete in domestic cricket in Pakistan.

"The players can absolutely take part in domestic cricket as of now." Earlier this month, the court lifted the ban from Mohammad Sami, Abdul Razzaq, Hasan Raza, Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved, Tahir Mughal, Shahid Yousuf, Hafiz Khalid, Naved Latif and Shahid Nazir.

The players' appearance in the ICL - a Twenty20 league which runs in competition to the officially recognized Indian Premier League - prompted the PCB to imposed a ban on them playing both domestic and international cricket.

ISLAMABAD, AP