Pakistan ban Yousuf after ICL move

Pakistan have banned Mohammad Yousuf from playing national and international cricket after he agreed to join the unrecognised Indian Cricket League, an official said Wednesday.

The 34-year-old batsman had been set to stage a comeback for Pakistan in next week's three matches against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi after missing a Twenty20 event in Canada last month because of visa problems.

His name featured in the 15-man squad announced on Monday, but shortly afterwards it was revealed that Yousuf had signed for the ICL, and he was removed from the list.

"Yousuf will remain banned from playing any type of cricket in Pakistan as he has joined the unrecognised Indian Cricket League," said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director of operations Zakir Khan.

The ICL on Wednesday confirmed that Yousuf would make his debut for the Lahore Badshahs on November 7.

Before the PCB's announcement, Yousuf told a news conference in New Delhi that he was still keen to play for Pakistan.

"This matter is in the hands of the board -- if I get a call-up, I will definitely represent the country," he said.

But the PCB's Khan slammed the door on that prospect for the time being, saying: "Yousuf's central contract has been terminated."

The PCB has a strict policy of banning all players who have joined the unofficial ICL, which is backed by India's largest media group, Zee television.

About 15 Pakistani players, including former captain Inzamam-ul Haq, joined the league last year and were subsequently barred from playing international and national cricket.

Khan, however, denied it was a life ban.

"We have a clear-cut policy on ICL players, which is that any player joining the ICL would be banned from playing any cricket for Pakistan and in Pakistan, but it's not a life ban. As long as he plays for the ICL, the ban will remain."

Khan said all efforts to contact Yousuf before he signed with the Indian league had failed.

"Since he left for India on Monday, we have tried to contact him desperately as we wanted to hear from him which is really disappointing. We now want to recover money from him which he took for signing with the other league," said Khan.

Yousuf, whose 1,788 runs in 2006 is a calendar-year record, previously signed a contract with the ICL after he was omitted from Pakistan's Twenty20 World Cup squad in September last year.

But the PCB later convinced him to tear up the contract and instead sign with the official Indian Premier League (IPL).

The ICL filed a legal case against Yousuf in Mumbai for breach of contract, while the IPL also threatened to take him to court.

Yousuf said Wednesday that his contractual spat with the ICL was a "misunderstanding".

ICL business head Himanshu Mody said they had dropped the case against Yousuf and signed him for three years. He also said the IPL could not take the player to court because he had not signed any deal with them.

Pakistan's newly-appointed coach Intikhab Alam said Yousuf's act was deplorable.

"Pakistan has given him everything -- name, fame and wealth -- but he let the nation and his fans down badly. He now can never play for Pakistan," said Alam, who was named last month after Pakistan sacked Australian Geoff Lawson.