Yousuf in Lahore on Thursday

Lahore/New Delhi: Mohammed Yousuf has made himself available for the upcoming Test series against South Africa after a meeting with the PCB chairman on Thursday.

Yousuf, whose future in the national team became uncertain when he agreed to join the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) last month, said there was no longer any confusion and that he would be available for the first Test starting on October 1 in Karachi.

“There was some misunderstanding with the PCB which has now been cleared up,” he said. “I will play for Pakistan.”

Yousuf has played 75 Tests and 242 ODIs. He holds the world record for scoring the maximum runs (1,788 runs in 11 Tests) and centuries (9) in a calendar year (2006).

But after being ignored for the ICC World Twenty20, Yousuf announced he had signed up with the breakaway ICL.

The PCB had initially said it would not select any player who joined the ICL.

But the PCB chairman admitted that the team needed Yousuf and every effort would be made to persuade him to play for Pakistan.

“I had a fruitful discussion with Yousuf today. The misunderstanding has been cleared,” Nasim Ashraf said.

“He has agreed to cancel his ICL contract and sign a central contract with us. He is now available for Pakistan. He is the backbone of our side and we would now like to see him playing until the next World Cup in 2011,” Ashraf said, adding that the 32-year-old will join the squad on Saturday.

An official of the ICL, however, said in New Delhi that Yousuf will play for them in November despite the Lahore development on Thursday.

“As per the contract between him and us, he would play in the ICL. It’s wrong to assume that he is opting out of the ICL contract just because he has signed the contract with the PCB,” the official said.

“We want to make one thing clear. Our contract with anyone, not just Yousuf, does not stop him from representing the country.”

Asked what the organisers would do if Yousuf’s Pakistan commitment clashed with the ICL dates, he said: “The contract does not have any clause to force the players to turn up for ICL action. The player is free to set his priority.”

Subhas Chandra, the man behind the ICL venture, fired a salvo on Thursday when he insisted that they were not intimidated by the BCCI’s move to have its own Twenty20 programmes. “We are not intimidated by the BCCI... We are not even worried,” he told a TV channel.

Chandra confirmed that the ICL was well on course despite the fact that the tournament had been pushed to mid-November.

“A lot of progress has been made over the last four months. We were surprised by the public reaction and the media support. It was a tremendous response which we really did not expect.”