Pakistan invited to Champions League - Ashraf

Pakistan will have two domestic Twenty20 teams in the Champions League tournament to be held later this year, said Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman. These teams will join Australia, South Africa, India and possibly England in the multi-nation tournament.

There has been uncertainty surrounding Pakistan's involvement in the tournament from the start, when an agreement was drawn up by boards from Australia, India, South Africa and England and not Pakistan. Discussions were held in Dubai at the ICC meeting between officials of the four countries, but significantly no official from Pakistan was present.

Though the BCCI stated last month that Pakistan would be one of the participating teams, one official told Cricinfo at the meeting, "All I confirm is that teams from India, Australia and South Africa are taking part. We will finalise the fourth nation or even a fifth in due course."

But Ashraf laid to rest any doubt about the identity of the fourth nation, confirming that two Pakistani teams will be there when and if the tournament goes ahead. "We have been invited by the BCCI to put forward two teams from Pakistan for the Champions League. We were invited when the IPL was launched that whenever the league happens it will have two teams from Pakistan. This was re-affirmed to us by Lalit Modi, the commissioner of the IPL, at a meeting I had with him in Dubai."

Ashraf also revealed plans for a Pakistan Super League (PSL) to be launched next year, along the lines of the IPL. Presumably this will replace the domestic Twenty20 Cup, which has already been an unparalleled success locally and has, unusually, had participation from all top national cricketers

"We are almost in the final stages of the launch of the Pakistan Super League," he said. "It will be held in September 2009. It will be something that the whole of Pakistan can be proud of. We will invite international cricketers and each side will have two players under 23 years of age."