ISLAMABAD: Three Pakistan cricketers will have to undergo a six-month rehabilitation program before they can return to international cricket after their five-year ban ends on Sept. 1.

The Pakistan Cricket Board will allow opening batsman Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir to play division two and club cricket from Sept 2, but the trio will be barred from first class and international match until the program ends on Feb. 28 next year.

The ICC banned the cricketers for at least five years for spot-fixing after Asif and Amir bowled deliberate no-balls during a test match in 2010 in which Pakistan was led by Butt.

PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said the board had to consider the possible negative effects of re-inserting the players into Pakistani cricket.

“Having considered all these factors we have come up with an action plan that will ensure a smooth and gradual induction of these players into cricket,” Khan said in a statement.

The three cricketers will start working with PCB’s vigilance and anti-corruption department from Sept. 2 and will deliver lectures in 16 regions all over Pakistan.

The PCB had allowed the trio to practice at the National Cricket Academy from Sept. 2 but they will not use the facility when national team players are present.

The PCB has also asked the three players to regularly visit orphanages and schools “in order to publicly contribute toward social responsibility obligations.”

The trio will also have integration sessions with the national team’s bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed and Pakistan players so that if they return to international or first class cricket they have “congenial environment” in the dressing room.

“The (three) players should have an apologetic attitude toward their fellow players, selectors and other stakeholders as a sign of sincere remorse,” the PCB said.

PSL from Feb. 4-24

Pakistan Wednesday announced it will host a twice-postponed Twenty20 league in Doha, Qatar, next year.

The event is scheduled for February and will feature around 25 foreign players.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had planned a Super Twenty20 league in 2013 but had to postpone it twice — in 2014 and 2015 — over a lack of response from sponsors and logistics problems.

Najam Sethi, former chairman of the PCB, announced the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be held from 4-24 February next year.

“The PSL will be held in Doha from February 4-24 with a prize money of one million dollars (100 million rupees) and we are getting encouraging responses from sponsors and foreign players,” said Sethi, who is now chairman of the PCB’s executive committee.

The idea behind staging the league was to give Pakistani players a chance to compete with and against top foreign players, something which the national players do not get as international cricket has been suspended in the country since 2009.

Pakistan was a no go area for international teams since terrorists’ attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009.

This was partially overcome with a short limited-over series against Zimbabwe in May-June this year.

“We are in talks with 40 foreign players and we expect some 25 to sign for the league and out of these 15 will be world class players,” Sethi said of the planned league.

Four West Indians and two players each from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa were among the targeted names, he said.

Sethi added that no player from India was on the PSL target list as the Board of Control for Cricket in India does not allow its players to feature in a foreign league.

Pakistan was forced to shift the League to Doha after grounds in the United Arab Emirates — where Pakistan have played all their home cricket since 2009 — were booked for a private league in January-February 2016.