Pakistan picks ICL players for World Twenty20

The PCB has included Abdul Razzaq, Naved-ul-Hasan and Imran Nazir, all three of whom participated in the ICL, in the list of 30 probables for the World Twenty20 to be held in England in June. ICC approval will be required to field the three players in the tournament. The PCB had earlier gone along with the decision of the Sind High Court in February to temporarily lift the ban on 17 ICL-contracted players and permitted them to participate in domestic cricket. Razzaq, Naved and Nazir have been absent from the international scene for more than a year after opting to join the unauthorised league.

"We have Razzaq, Hasan and Nazir in the preliminary squad but their inclusion in the final team will depend on clearance from the ICC," Abdul Qadir, the PCB's chief selector, said.

The ICL has maintained that it is willing to release some of its foreign players from their contracts if they have been called up for national duty, but hopes they would return for the October-November edition of the tournament later in the year.

Also included in the squad is Shoaib Akhtar, who had earlier been named in a 15-man squad for the ODI series against Australia in the UAE. Shoaib returns to international cricket after being ruled out of the scheduled tour of Bangladesh, which was suspended due to security concerns, as a result of a knee injury.

Apart from the known faces in the Pakistan team, the squad for the World Twenty20 also includes Wahab Riaz, who impressed in the recently concluded RBS Cup domestic tournament, and Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad, who also feature in the squad for the series against Australia.

Pakistan Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Amin, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Kamran Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Aizaz Cheema, Mohammad Aamer, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Rehman, Yasir Shah, Kamran Akmal (wk), Sarfraz Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq*, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan*, Imran Nazir*

* - Inclusion in final team subject to ICC approval