Ihsanullah reverses his decision to retire saying that he made the decision in “an emotional state of mind”.
Ihsanullah has reversed a decision to retire from all franchise cricket less than 24 hours after he announced it.
“I take my decision back,” Ihsanullah said, speaking to TV channel Geo Super. “No franchise picked me, and the comments of a lot of people sent me over the edge. I’m going to work hard. There are four months before the PSL. The people who didn’t select me are the same ones who will select me in the future. I have no plans to retire.”
Ihsanullah, 22, made his initial announcement to retire merely hours after the conclusion of the draft for the tenth edition of the PSL, which he went unsold in. At the time, he insisted it wasn’t an emotional decision. “People are self-serving. I boycott the PSL, no one will ever see me in the PSL. Nobody has contacted me, even [Ali Tareen, Multan Sultans’ owner] supported my talent, not me personally.”
Ihsanullah, who made a name for himself in 2023 with his quick pace and ability to take wickets, sustained an elbow injury in his first ODI series against New Zealand at home. However, the way it was handled—or not—became the focus of a lengthy story in which Ali Tareen, the owner of his franchise, criticised the PCB for improperly supporting the fast bowler and claimed Sultans, not the PCB, were responsible for the majority of his living expenses during his recuperation.
Tareen told ESPNcricinfo that Ihsanullah had contacted him to express regret for the public criticism of him and to thank him once more for his assistance with his recovery.
“I feel extremely sorry for Ihsanullah,” Tareen said. “He comes from a very poor family and when he broke through, he believed he would come out of poverty, but because of the actions of the PCB’s medical staff, he fears he may have to go back to poverty. The PCB have effectively washed their hands off him, and I was the one who asked the PCB to let him play the recent T20 Champions Cup. None of us can imagine what his state of mind must be.”
In order to provide Ihsanullah with a monthly pay cheque as he works to regain his fitness, Tareen claimed he had promised to keep him involved with Sultans, who have a Grade 2 department side. However, he justified his choice to pass on Ihsanullah in the draft, stating that he did not believe it was feasible to select him in the most recent draft since he was not prepared to play the high calibre of cricket required by the PSL by April.