Yousuf's IPL status in limbo till April 30

Mohammad Yousuf will have to wait till April 30 to know whether he will be allowed to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The final decision of the arbitration panel hearing the case filed by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) to block Yousuf from participating in the IPL would not announce its final order till then, ICL lawyers said.

The announcement is a setback for Yousuf as, with the IPL slated to begin on April 18, he is likely to miss a major chunk of the IPL even if the panel rules in his favour. ICL legal adviser Hitesh Jain was quoted by PTI as saying that since the arbitration panel had reserved its order for final pronouncement the stay order on Yousuf from playing in the IPL remained.

The ICL also challenged Yousuf's claim that he had returned the advance payment amount he got from ICL to one of its agents in Pakistan."Our case is that Yousuf has not returned the advance amount to ICL or to an authorised agent of ICL," Jain said. "The person to whom Yousuf claimed to have returned the money is not ICL's agent in Pakistan and therefore ICL has not received any money from Yousuf.

"ICL still holds that there is a binding contract between ICL and Yousuf and he can't participate in any competing league during the term of the contract."

The uncertainty surrounding Yousuf's availability ensured that his services were unsold during the IPL auctions.