ICL jolts Punjab state team

CHANDIGARH, August 31: The Punjab Cricket Association, which boasts of churning out the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and VRV Singh, is in serious trouble as the breakaway Indian Cricket League has succeeded in poaching most of the current players rendering services for the state.
It all started with Dinesh Mongia, Rajesh Sharma, Munish Sharma and Reetinder Sodhi who took no time in severing links with the PCA and joined the ICL, giving a big jolt to Punjab.
The band of four was followed by Sumeet Kalia, pacer Ishaan Malhotra and spinner Sarabjeet Singh.
Medium pacers Amit Uniyal and Luv Abhilish and spinners Bipul Sharma and Karanveer also changed sides further complicating matters for the PCA.
It appears that Punjab is the biggest sufferer following the ICL's starting its rebel league.
It has prompted PCA chief IS Bindra to go to the extent of granting amnesty from the BCCI for such "rebels" if they return to the state association.
However, with the domestic season little over a month away, a new look Ranji Trophy team was very much on the cards.
Pointing that they were not being given adequate chances to don the state team's colours, the deserting players also preferred the ICL for the bigger amounts they were promised.
Most of them have left for Chennai to join the ongoing ICL camp, sources said.
Uniyal, Abhilish and Bipul Sharma were part of the state Ranji team while Karanveer represented the country in the Under-19 cricket series in England last year.
The Punjab Ranji team had given a dismal show in the past two seasons and now with most players deserting it, things have gone from bad to worse.
It is now a major challenge for new coach Gurcharan Singh to put the house in order.