Lahore, Apr.9 (ANI): Pakistani ICL players may have been thinking of making a comeback to the national squad after they announced their readiness to terminate their contracts with the league, but it could take a year or six months of a ‘cooling period’ before it could really happen.

A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesperson said the International Cricket Council (ICC) was considering a ‘cooling period’ for players who joined unrecognized leagues like the ICL, before they appear for their national team in the international cricket arena.

There is a suggestion that a player who has played in an unauthorised tournament should have a cooling period of six months or one year before he can be allowed to return to international cricket,” The Daily Times quoted the spokesperson, as saying.

Commenting on PCB’s decision to pick three rebel ICL players in the provisional squad for the Twenty20 World Championship, and later removing their names from the list, the spokesperson said the ICC has yet not given any idea about how to deal with the issue.

“We have also asked the ICL to send us some clarifications as we can only consider those players for national selection who end their contracts with unauthorised tournaments permanently and not temporarily,” he added.

Meanwhile, sources said that chief selector Abdul Qadir has been severely criticized for naming three ICL players Abdul Razzaq, Rana Navedul Hasan and Imran Nazir in the list of thirty probables for the World Twenty20 Championship to be held in England in June.

“It proved to be an embarrassment for Pakistan. The ICC and its member boards were not very pleased with the announcement by the Pakistani selectors,” sources said. (ANI)