The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the country’s top cricket regulatory body, is starting to get into a fight with its top players after declining to provide great bowler Naseem Shah a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the prestigious The Hundred competition.
It is currently anticipated that a number of other players are under the radar because the PCB would probably reject them from playing in a number of prestigious franchise competitions. In addition, stars like Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, and Babar Azam may be requested to withdraw from the next Global T20 League, which will be held in Canada, due to workload management. Notably, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has not yet accepted the league.
The Hundred’s Birmingham Phoenix team will be primarily impacted by the departure and will now have to face the challenge of anticipating their campaign without Naseem Shah. Star pacer would also forfeit a large £125,000 salary as a result of this. Certain players, including as Haris Rauf and Usama Mir, who do not represent Pakistan in all formats, might be permitted to participate in The Hundred despite the cancellation of NOCs.
In addition, Pakistan’s international cricket calendar is jam-packed with matches, beginning in August with a Test series against Bangladesh. They will next play a test match in their den against England in October, and then they will play a series of white-ball matches against South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, and Zimbabwe. In addition to these matches, they will play away against South Africa and at home against the West Indies to extend their red-ball cricket career. Additionally, they will host the Champions Trophy, a highly anticipated ICC mega event, in 2025.
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ESPN Cricinfo reports that PCB has made two-condition offers of three-year core contracts to its top players who participate in all formats. They will be permitted to participate in two franchise leagues overseas, provided that these leagues do not conflict with the players’ international obligations. Furthermore, even in the absence of conflicts, the PCB will always have the power to refuse players a NoC if they believe that a particular circumstance is impeding their ability to fulfil their international obligations. As a result, if there is no obvious obstacle and the board continues to reject NOCs, this could cause a wedge between the board and its members.
Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq were fired by PCB from the selection committee.
It is important to note that, as part of a significant overhaul, PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi recently made these changes in response to Pakistan’s poor performance in the just finished T20 World Cup. The PCB recently fired Abdul Razzaq and Wahab Riaz from the board’s selection committee.