Karachi, May 2 (IANS) Pakistan is considering the option of waiving off a one-year ‘cooling period’ proposed by the Indian cricket board for players returning to international cricket from the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Board of Control of Cricket in India granted amnesty to the ICL rebels, saying they can play in domestic cricket after severing ties with ICL. But they will be considered for national selection only after one year.

Well-placed sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) told IANS Friday that Ijaz Butt, the board chairman has summoned a meeting next week to discuss the issue. According to the sources, some influential officials in the PCB are pushing the idea of waving off one-year ‘cooling period’ for ICL rebels and bring some of them back in the under-performing Pakistan team.

Sources said PCB top brass will consider the idea of imposing fines on ICL players and then clear them for national duty.

Pakistan have flopped in its ongoing one-day series against Australia in UAE where the Aussies are leading 3-1.

Many former Pakistan captains have asked the PCB to clear the ICL players and include the best ones in the national team for better results in the future.

National selectors want to include at least ICL players - allrounder Abdul Razzaq, opener Imran Nazir and pacer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan in the squad for the June 5-21 Twenty20 World Cup. They also want to bring back premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf - also an ICL rebel - in the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka this summer.

Sources said PCB might take a cue from New Zealand Cricket (NZC) which has hinted that it might bring back some of its ICL rebels like pacer Shane Bond as soon as they sever their ties with ICL.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan has said that New Zealand would not necessarily follow the ‘cooling off’ sanctions of the Indian board, citing that the International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting this month gave national bodies the freedom to determine what sanctions, if any, they would level against players returning from the ICL.

Bangladesh may also lift ban on their ICL players after India offered a similar amnesty, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said earlier this week.

The ICC earlier this month rejected an application from the ICL seeking approval for their Twenty20 competition.