Pakistan players blocked from playing in Bangladesh league

Monday, 19 December 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

KARACHI (Reuters) : Pakistan players have been refused permission to play in the lucrative Bangladesh Twenty20 league by their cricket board (PCB) in order to concentrate on next month’s test series against England in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Nine Pakistani players have been offered contracts by different clubs in the Bangladesh premier league that begins on Dec. 26 but the PCB has stopped test players, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez and Abdul Rehman from signing.

“The PCB feels that at this time when the national team is due to play a very important test series against England it would not be appropriate to allow our top players to play in any foreign T20 league,” PCB media manager Nadeem Sarwar told Reuters.

“No player at this stage has been given permission to sign any contract.”

Other players offered contracts include out of favour test players, Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz and Umar Akmal and Sohail Tanvir who recently played in the one-day series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The Pakistani team is currently touring Bangladesh and will return home next week before leaving for Dubai on Jan. 9. The first of three tests against England start on Jan. 17 with the squad scheduled to be named next week.