National players must play domestic cricket - Qadir

Abdul Qadir, Pakistan's chief selector, has said penalties could be imposed on international players who skip domestic tournaments without genuine reasons. Most of Pakistan's leading players have participated in this season's four-day and one-day Pentangular tournaments and Qadir felt it gave them the opportunity to stay fit and in form.

"We will look to have penalties for such players," Qadir said while attending a Pentangular one-day match in Karachi. "And I can tell you that the director general of cricket, Javed Miandad, is not going to tolerate any such absences from domestic cricket."

Qadir said the domestic tournaments will help Pakistan improve their bench strength even though there was little international cricket on offer. "Our primary objective is to help raise a strong second string. It's important for domestic cricket that all our star players are involved in such events. I believe that such contests should take place regularly."

Pakistan have not played any Tests in 2008 and their last one-day series was against West Indies in Abu Dhabi in November. With India's tour in doubt, Pakistan players are likely to keep themselves busy with domestic cricket.

However Qadir hoped India would tour for what he felt would be a 'memorable series'. "It's the one series that is passionately followed by millions of fans around the world and should not be cancelled."