ICL recruits must not be deprived of basic rights

Last year, an Indian business tycoon, a media group and some former Indian cricketers decide to launch a Twenty20 overs tournament with the name Indian Cricket League (ICL) with a huge prize money of US$ one million for the winning team of the first edition of the league.

The league was started initially with six teams with a plan to expand it to 16 teams in the next three years and also move to 50 overs matches. Former international players like Kapil Dev, Kiran More, Tony Greig and Dean Jones were hired to run the ICL. The tournament was scheduled from November 30, 2007.

To make this event most successful, in July 2007 some leading international cricketers were invited to sign the richest deal to play in the ICL.

Former West Indian captain Brian Lara, New Zealand's Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Craig McMillan, Daryl Tuffey, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzaq, Taufiq Umar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Jason Gillespie from Australia, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp from South Africa and some other cricketers from other countries signed to play in the ICL.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) immediately showed its reaction and refused to recognise the ICL. The International Cricket Council (ICC) also backed the BCCI and gave a statement through its Chief Executive Malcolm Speed, that the game's world governing body won't sanction the ICL unless BCCI recognises it.

The other boards from Test playing nations also supported the BCCI decision and imposed bans on their players participating in the rebel league.

To counter the ICL, the BCCI announced its own Twenty20 tournament namely the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the English Football League and USA baseball format from April 18, 2008.

In August last year, the BCCI made it clear that any cricketer who aligned with the rebel body would be banned for life from playing for the national side as well as all domestic tournaments.

But the decision invited worldwide condemnation. Legendary players like Imran Khan and Javed Miandad criticised the PCB decision of banning the players who participated in the ICL.

Tim May, the head of the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) told a newspaper: "It still remains unclear, as to what the real objection to ICL is, apart from it being an unwanted competitor. No governing body has yet satisfactorily explained to a player association why ICL is such a danger to cricket."

In December last year the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) banned those players who appeared in the ICL from playing the national and domestic cricket.

On December 6 last year, the PCB wrote a letter to all the affiliated units, instructing them not to allow (to play) any such players, who are involved with any league cricket, not recognised by the board.

According to Shafiq Ahmed, PCB's domestic cricket general manager, it is a policy decision that players who play in unauthorised leagues cannot be allowed to play in any domestic competition organised by the PCB.

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shabbir Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Mohammad Sami, Azhar Mahmood, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq -- all Test players -- appeared in the first edition of the ICL.

But the affected players refused to accept PCB's lifetime ban. Openers Imran and Taufiq said that how they can be stopped from playing domestic cricket, adding it was unfair as cricket is their bread and butter. They also expressed that the ban is a violation of their fundamental rights, specially when they are not PCB-contracted players.

Imran and Taufiq have jointly filed a petition in the Lahore High Court against the PCB over the ban in January on which judgement has not yet been received.

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