Farhat snaps ties with ICL

Pakistan opener Imran Farhat has confirmed that he has snapped ties with the Indian Cricket League, making himself available for official cricket. Farhat met Wasim Bari, the Pakistan Cricket Board's chief operating officer, and submitted a no-objection certificate from the ICL.

The PCB, Bari was quoted as saying in Dawn, will adopt the same procedure applied in the case of the other ICL players.

Farhat joined the rebel league in 2007, a year before the general exodus of Pakistan players. All those affiliated to the ICL were banned by the PCB and kept out of domestic cricket. Some, including Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Yousuf, Naved-ul-Hasan and Imran Nazir, snapped ties with the ICL earlier this year and returned to the Pakistan fold. The future of the ICL itself appears bleak due to a cash crunch, with a majority of its players - both Indian and overseas - pulling out.

Farhat said he regretted joining the ICL and was desperate to play more cricket than the league was organising. "Joining the ICL was a mistake I realised later on," he said. "I realised it when I found that playing for the ICL meant playing just one tournament in a year, which is not enough to satisfy the hunger for cricket."

His ICL team-mate, Mohammad Sami, has also expressed regret at joining the ICL and is still awaiting payment due to him, which he claims is more than Rs 10 million.

"It was a bad decision because it ruined my international career," Sami said. "But now I cannot leave the league until my dues are cleared."

The fast bowler said he would meet former captain Moin Khan - the ICL's representative in Pakistan - to get his dues cleared.