Naved wants PCB's assurance before parting with ICL

Pakistan paceman Rana Naved has made it clear that he will snap his ties with the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League only after getting a clear picture from the PCB about future prospects of the ICL players.

Naved, one of Pakistan's most accomplished bowlers in one-day and Twenty20 formats before he joined the ICL two years back, said he had not resigned from the 'rebel' league as none from the Pakistan Cricket Board had spoken to him or any other ICL players yet.

"We keep reading statements, that's all so far officially no one from the Board has called us to speak. Even when our names were given in the preliminary squad of the T20 World Cup no one spoke to us about it," Naved said.

"We are ready to serve our country again and we are ready to leave the ICL, but first we need to have some discussions with the PCB. Personally, I don't feel it is sensible to just cancel my contract with the ICL without knowing what the PCB has in mind for us," he added.

The PCB has given time until the end of May to all the ICL rebels to cancel their ICL contracts if they want to make themselves available to play for the country.

But the PCB has also made it clear it would decide case by case basis about whether any player has to be penalised with a fine or ban before considering his name for national selection again.

The PCB also didn't clear the ICL aligned cricketers for selection in the final T20 World Cup squad.

Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and some other players had also indicated to the PCB that they wanted to play for the country and were willing to cancel their ICL contracts, Naved insisted.

"But so far there has been no clear communication between us and the PCB. We are all here to serve our country, if the PCB wants us to," Naved was quoted as saying in the Dawn newspaper.

"Since the Board is aware of our decisions and future plans, it is up to them to contact us, ensure us that we will be in their plans and if that is the case then we are more than willing to cancel our ICL contracts," he said.

Senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf has already announced that he has resigned from the ICL and would not join them again as his dues were still to be cleared by the League and he wanted to play for Pakistan again.

Yousuf also said he had been approached by the unsanctioned American Premier League (APL), although he had no intention of signing a deal with them.

"I've been approached by the APL organisers to represent the Pakistani team in the tournament, but I'd rather hear from the PCB on the league's status before confirming anything," he said.