LARA

NEW DELHI (Reuters):

Former West Indies skipper Brian Lara will come out of retirement to play in an unofficial Indian cricket league to be launched later this year, its organisers said yesterday.

"We've signed up Lara, he will be playing and captaining one of the teams," Himanshu Mody, business head of Zee Sports, told Reuters.

India's Essel Group, which controls the country's biggest listed media firm Zee Telefilms, launched the Twenty/20 league in May to stage an annual tournament featuring foreign players and some current India players.

Lara, 38, announced his retirement from all cricket after this year's Cricket World Cup where the home team failed to reach the last four the batting maestro did not rule out a return.

Warning

India's board has refused permission for the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and warned its state affiliates and home players of action if they associated themselves with it.

The board has asked World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev to choose between remaining the chairman of the national cricket academy or being a board member of the league.

Former India players Madan Lal and Sandeep Patil had signed up as coaches while their former teammate Balwinder Sandhu would head the ICL's planned cricket academy, Mody said.

The ICL would announce the venue and names of more players soon, he said.