Reuters

Karachi, Apr 7: Pakistan have included three players in their preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup that are banned from the national team because of their contracts with the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir were named in the 30-man squad from which the selectors will shortlist the final 15 for the tournament in England in June.

Chief selector Abdul Qadir told a news conference on Monday that the trio would only be retained in the squad if they were cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"We were asked to pick the best Twenty20 players in the preliminary squad which we have done. Naturally their final selection is now dependent on these players being cleared by the board to play for the country," Qadir said.

The three are among 17 players contarcted by the ICL who were recently allowed by the Sindh High Court to play domestic cricket but they are still banned from representing Pakistan.

The International Cricket Council and its members do not recognise the league.

Razzaq and Naved, along with senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf, had informed the PCB they were willing to forgo their ICL contracts if they were reconsidered for national selection.

Preliminary squad:

Younis Khan (Capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Shahzab Hasan, Umar Amin, Ahmed Shahzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Kamran Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Aitzaz Cheema, Mohammad Aamir, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Danish Kaneria, Yasir Shah, Kamran Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved, Imran Nazir, Abdul Rehman.