The club could put their faith in home-grown talent if Rana's involvement with the rebel Indian Cricket League precludes him from fulfilling the final year of his Yorkshire contract.

Rana's connection with the ICL means Yorkshire face exclusion from the multi-million-pound Twenty20 Champions League should he play in any first-team fixture for the county next summer.

Yorkshire are talking to Rana and his agent in an effort to find the best way forward and are understood to be exploring three main options:

That they agree a compensation package with Rana, allowing both parties to walk away from the contract.

That they decide Rana could help them achieve success in all domestic competitions and therefore disregard his ICL association, despite the risk of Champions League exclusion.

That Rana sees out the final year of his Yorkshire contract in the second team.

The first option would appear by far the most practical, with the second unrealistic and the third unimaginable.

Rana, 30, signed a three-year ICL deal with Lahore Badshahs last January without Yorkshire's knowledge, having already joined the club on a two-year contract.

His ICL commitments also threaten to clash with Yorkshire's pre-season tour to Abu Dhabi next March.

Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan commented: "It's an incredibly sensitive situation. We've got the club's potential participation in a multi-million competition at stake and we need to come up with a solution that satisfies all parties.

"As things stand, we could be prevented from taking part in the Champions League if Rana plays for us in any domestic competition – not just in Twenty20, so there's a lot of talking to be done over the next few days.

"If it transpires Rana does not play for us next year, then we may be prepared to start the new season without an overseas player.

"We haven't made a final decision on that, but we wouldn't just sign an overseas player for the sake of it.

"The price of overseas players is going through the roof because the pool of available players is diminishing massively.

"You've got players going off to play in the ICL and the Indian Premier League, you've got them playing for their international teams and then you've also got work permit issues, so the overseas players that are eligible are being quoted at ridiculous prices.

"The money wouldn't be an issue, but the issue of quality is very important. Unless a player of proven quality was available, we might just stick with our own players and see how we go.

"If it turns out we think we do need an overseas player then we could maybe look to sign one later in the season should one become available.

"But when Anthony McGrath was appointed captain he said he wanted to give the young lads a chance – a stance backed by Martyn Moxon, our director of professional cricket, and also by the board."

Regan admitted such a strategy could be viewed as a risk – particularly in light of the increased prize money on offer in the County Championship from next summer, with the winners pocketing £500,000 and the runners-up £225,000.

But he stressed: "It's a risk whether you sign an overseas player or whether you don't sign one. There are no guarantees of success and, if you look at the matches we won last season, our younger lads performed extremely well.

"We got to the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup without an overseas player, so there's an argument that we've already got quality in our ranks.

"It's all hypothetical at the moment, because we don't know what's going to be happening with the Rana situation."

Yorkshire's ongoing efforts to sign a new English-qualified bowler are nearing conclusion, with the club expected to make an announcement next week.

"It's not going to be a mega-name – I've seen the name of Liam Plunkett bandied around on internet message boards, but he's signed up with Durham," said Regan.

"It's basically a young English player who we believe is one for the future."