KARACHI: The PCB is considering allowing players to participate in the second edition of the ILT20.
The first edition of the Emirati event ILT Twenty was played this year, but Pakistani cricketers were not allowed to participate in it. The league offered a maximum salary of four and a half million dollars to cricketers, but the organizers only offered nine lakhs to Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan.
Additionally, there was a proposal to designate a player as the captain through a three-year contract, with the remaining compensation to be supplemented through image rights and other similar avenues. Various franchises approached Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, and Mohammad Hasnain, informing them that they could join the league but only when they were free from their obligations to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the national team. However, the PCB did not authorize any player to participate in the league.
Azam Khan's contract was also reached, and the then chairman Ramiz Raja also demanded compensation from the Emirates board to release the players.
The current head of the board, Najam Sethi, does not have a very strict stance regarding the ILT Twenty. In the PSL governing council meeting in the past few days, he also said that it will not be possible to stop the Pakistani players now, that they should also form an association, etc. Thinking, anyway we have good relations with UAE, we can negotiate on a "give something and take something" basis.
At the same time, there was a proposal to start the PSL from Dubai to create hype for the event and attract big foreign cricketers, but the PSL franchises are not happy with this proposal.
They say that strengthening the ILT Twenty by releasing Pakistani cricketers will be like damaging their own league. Sources say that if the current administration is ready for three years, Pakistani cricketers will be seen playing in the Emirates League.