With rumours of some current New Zealand players also joining the breakaway League after Pakistanis Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq, Ponting said, it was turning out to be dangerous preposition for international cricket.
“I am a bit more concerned this week with the new signings. Going back, there was no-one who said they had signed. There was talk of (Glenn) McGrath and (Shane) Warne. It looks as though the Pakistanis and a few of the New Zealanders have signed as well,” Ponting said.
“The danger is that it attracts the guys who are playing international cricket at the moment. If it is only attracting guys who are retired then it won’t affect us whatsoever. There has been talk of attracting younger players, but those players will only be India-based,” he was quoted as saying by The Australian.
Ponting wondered how cricket boards could be lenient towards players joining the ICL.
“The concern I have is how lenient the boards are with the players. I heard a whisper the other day that the New Zealanders might be going with the board’s blessing because they have no cricket at that time of the year.
“You will have some of these guys putting on these Twenty20 events in opposition to the World Cup — we have seen that there is more money in these Twenty20 comps than there is in the whole World Cup,” Ponting said.
“What will the players do?  Play in the World Cup or in the Twenty20 tournaments? They are going to have to make a decision and pretty quickly.”