PCB under pressure to pick ICL players - Miandad

Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain and current director-general of the PCB, has said the board is under a lot of pressure from the public and the media to include ICL players in the national team. Miandad supported the move and accused the Indian board of "bullying tactics" which have caused players to suffer.

The Indian board banned ICL players from playing any representative cricket in and for India, a move that was copied by most other national boards as well. "The BCCI is a very powerful body, but because of its bullying tactics, a lot of people are suffering. All the BCCI needs to do is join hands with ICL," Miandad told Daily News & Analysis, an Indian newspaper. "PCB is under a lot of pressure from the public and the media to include players like Imran Nazir, Rana Naved and Imran Farhat in the team. If there is such talent, why not utilise it? As a cricketer, I would like to see these boys in the Pakistan squad."

Another influential name in cricket, Clive Lloyd, the former West Indies captain and the chairman of ICC's cricket committee, also backed a thaw in relations between the official and unauthorised voices of the game. He hoped the IPL and ICL could co-exist and also believed that similar leagues in West Indies would boost the game in the region.

Miandad also hoped India will tour Pakistan in January, a series that will boost the country's chances of successfully bidding for the postponed Champions Trophy later in 2009. "If they don't tour then how can we expect any other country to ever visit us?" Miandad was against holding the series at a neutral venue said if there were security issues, India could host it instead. "Let Pakistan tour India on the scheduled dates and India can come back for the return tour a little later, when they feel more comfortable."