Yousuf lands in controversy

Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf has found himself at the centre of a controversy in the Bangladesh Dhaka Premier League one-day competition.

Yousuf, who has been sidelined by the Pakistani selectors since late 2010, has found himself dragged into a controversy because of a dispute between two premier clubs of the league, Mohammadan sporting club and Victoria club. "It is a strange and unheard of situation here. I have never found myself in such a position before in my career," a visibly upset Yousuf said from Dhaka. The dispute arose after Victoria signed on Yousuf for the one-day competition. Victoria claimed that they had included the Pakistani star in their eleven after his former club, Mohammadan sporting issued him a proper NOC letter of release. But after Mohammadan raised a hue and cry and described the clearance letter as a fake, a third club Abhani refused to complete a match against Victoria this week in which Yousuf was playing, leading to the suspension of the Premier league. Yousuf said according to his information a final decision would now be taken tomorrow at a meeting of the league organizing committee. "I came here to play because I don`t want to lose touch with cricket," he said. Interestingly, Latif ur Rehman Badal who issued the clearance letter to Yousuf in January this year when he was with Mohammadan sporting club has now joined the governing board of the Victoria club. But he claims the clearance letter is not a fake and was issued in January on Yousuf`s request. "Yousuf had played for Mohammadan last season but this season since he had offers from Victoria and other clubs he sought the clearance from us as per the league regulations," Badal said. Pakistani cricketers have been featuring prominently in the Bangladesh domestic events as they are paid well. But many of the players who took part in the Bangladesh Premier League in February have still complained off non payment of their dues. According to some of these players their payments were to be cleared on March 23rd by their franchise and league organisers but this has not happened as yet. "So far I have only got 25 per cent payment," one player said. PTI