PCB allows five players to go for ad shoot in Malaysia

KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has permitted five of its leading players to travel to Malaysia for a commercial shoot in relation to the 2011 World Cup.

Shahid Afridi, Younus Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq have been given permission to travel to Malaysia for two days for the shoot.

“The board has allowed them permission after the national training camp ends in Lahore and because the beverages company making the commercial is a big supporter of cricket and the World Cup,” the Daily Times quoted a PCB spokesman, as saying.

The PCB had initially refused permission to the five players for the shoot insisting they needed to focus on their training in the national camp for the tour to New Zealand.

The spokesman said that the five players would leave for Malaysia after the camp but join the team in Hong Kong en route to New Zealand.

The PCB has off late adopted a very strict policy of permitting players to sign endorsement contracts, sponsorship deals, play in foreign leagues or hire agents.

The board changed its attitude after the spot-fixing scandal that broke out in England in August causing great damage to the image of Pakistan cricket. (ANI)