Inzamam can own T-10 team, but conditions apply

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) allowed chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq to purchase any team of the upcoming T-10 League along with granting him permission him to mentor  Lahore Qalandars, one of the five teams of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), under specific conditions on Thursday.

Apart from Inzamam, National Cricket Academy (NCA) bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed has also been allowed to coach a team of the T-10 League which is scheduled to take place from December 21-24 in Sharjah.

According to sources, Inzamam requested chairman PCB Najam Sethi to grant him permission for the two projects in a meeting on Thursday. The former captain told the PCB chairman that Lahore Qalandars are keen on hiring him as mentor and that he is interested to jointly purchase a team in the upcoming T-10 League.

However, while the PCB allowed Inzamam to undertake both the projects, they put forward some conditions. As per the sources, one of the conditions was that during his role as mentor of Lahore Qalandars, he will not be getting his monthly salary from the PCB. Furthermore, Inzamam will not be allowed to sit in the players’ draft or in the dugouts like the other mentors such as Sir Vivan Richards who mentors Quetta Gladiators. Another condition that was put forward was that in case Inzamam is needed for the national team during the other events, the chief selector will be required to report for national duty.

Initially, PCB was not very keen for Inzamam to be included in other cricket activities saying that it could create a “conflict of interest”. This was displeasing for Inzamam as the former captain is very keen on playing an active role in the T-10 league which could also become very popular in the future like the T20 games.

Similarly, Mushtaq will also receive a subtracted salary during his coaching period with the T10 league team.

On the other hand, head coach of the Pakistan Team Mickey Arthur is also the coach of Karachi Kings, another PSL team so it would have been unfair to limit Inzamam from his involvement in the two projects since he is part of PCB as a consultant.

Before joining the national team as head coach, Mickey had informed the PCB that he would continue his role as coach of the Karachi Kings with which the PCB had complied.

The mentioned T-10 league is being held in Sharjah next month and cricketers from around the world including Shahid Afridi, Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara and Eoin Morgan are participating.