The release which was put out on Wednesday however stated that such players will be allowed to play domestic cricket according to the rules of the board. The MCL is for retired players but the PCB has said any Pakistani player active in domestic cricket who has signed up with the league will be considered retired, regardless of his prior announcement regarding retirement from global cricket. An hour later, Test batsman Yasir Hameed also announced his formal retirement.
Cricketers like Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Rana Naved, Humayun Farhat and Mohammad Khalil had approached the board for obtaining NOCs for taking part in the MCL. NOCs to these players were issued when they announced retirement from global cricket and tendered their resignations to the PCB.
The MCL which is scheduled between 28th January and 13th February will directly clash with the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) which will be held between 4th and 23rd February. PCB issued NOCs to six players to play in the newly-introduced Masters Champions League (MCL).
Former captain Mohammad Yousuf called the board’s policy as stubborn and said that instead of facilitating the players, it was only making life hard for them.
“If they want us to announce our retirements we will do it but we can’t waste an opportunity to earn good money at this stage”.
