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After overlooking them for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan on Thursday offered an olive branch to experienced national players Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq by announcing that the duo will be invited for the opening ceremony of a conditioning camp on August 21, a day when the country’s new coach Geoff Lawson will formally start his assignment.

A top Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official told ‘The News’ that Yousuf and Razzaq would be invited for an event to be held on the opening day of the conditioning camp in Lahore because “they are our senior players”.

The Lahore camp which would provide an opportunity to Lawson to spend some time with his new charges ahead of the September 11-24 Twenty World Cup in South Africa will be attended by the 15 players selected for the T20 assignment.

“We have decided to invite Yousuf and Razzaq for the camp because they are our senior players and we want them to spend some time with Geoff Lawson, the team’s new coach,” said Shafqat Naghmi, the Board’s Chief Operating Officer.

Yousuf and Razzaq were left fuming after being ignored by the national selection committee for the T20 assignment. While Yousuf did not react to the axing, Razzaq launched a scathing attack on the selectors and the PCB for snubbing him.

Both Yousuf and Razzaq are among a list of seven Pakistani cricketers who have been approached by the organisers of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and there have speculations in the media that the duo might sign up for the rebel League after being dropped from the Pakistan squad.

Source:Cricket News