CHENNAI, India, (Reuters) – India’s cricket board has  welcomed back 79 cricketers to the fold after they cut ties with  the ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League (ICL).

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in  April any players wishing to be considered for the international  side had to ditch the unofficial league by May 31.

Among the players readmitted were former caps Hemang Badani,  Dinesh Mongia and Sridharan Sriram.
However, only four Pakistan players who signed up for the  ICL have taken up the amnesty offered by their board.
A senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said Mohammad  Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved and Imran Nazir from about 20  players had informed the board of their decision to resign from  the ICL by the May 31 deadline.

“The rest of the ICL players have not contacted us so  apparently they have other plans in their minds,” former  Pakistan test captain and director of human resources Wasim Bari  told Reuters on Tuesday.

The PCB cleared Yousuf and Razzaq to be considered for  national selection without any penalties while Bari said the  cases of Naved and Nazir were still under consideration.

While the players from India will be eligible to rejoin  official domestic cricket, they will need to serve a “cooling  off” period of one year from their return date before they  qualify for international selection again, BCCI said.

“The BCCI, after scrutinising their requests, has written to  the concerned state associations (saying) that these players are  eligible to play in the domestic tournaments for this year,” the  BCCI said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Guidelines with respect to participation in (the) Indian  Premier League will be intimated in due course.”
The ICL, bankrolled by one of India’s largest media firms,  launched the league following India’s triumph in the inaugural  Twenty20 World Cup in 2007.

Apart from several fringe Indian players, it signed overseas  players, particularly from Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh.
However, the BCCI, concerned the league would undermine its  position, refused to recognise it and persuaded other national  boards to ban players who signed up.

The International Cricket Council had in April rejected an  application from the ICL seeking approval for their Twenty20  competition.