PCB revokes players’ NOCs for T10 league

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revoked conditional No Objection Certificates (NOCs) given to its players to feature in the Abu Dhabi T10 league, which is due to start from November 15.

In a statement, the PCB said that the decision had been taken “to manage the players’ workload, continued work on their fitness levels (and) to ensure primacy and participation of its player in its premier Quaid-e-Azam Trophy”.

The tournament is set to clash with a fitness and medical assessment camp at the National Cricket Academy, as well as several rounds of the QeA Trophy.

The PCB added: “The decision has been made in the best interest of the players as well as to continue to enhance the credibility and reputation of the new domestic structure, which has been widely covered and reported across all media outlets.”

The news is a significant blow to the T10 tournament, which was set to feature several Pakistan players. The majority of the Qalandars squad is Pakistani - including Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf and Imran Nazir - while other players who could be affected include Mohammad Irfan, Shoaib Malik and Sohail Tanvir.

Afridi and Imran Nazir, however, will not be affected by the revocation of NOCs, given they have retired from Pakistan cricket.

The PCB operates an informal “PSL plus one league” policy with regards to issuing NOCs to it players for leagues around the world. Beyond one other league, permission is viewed on a case-by-case basis, depending on the player’s fitness and Pakistan’s domestic and international commitments at the time.

Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Afridi, for example, were recently included in the draft for The Hundred - which would constitute a league above and beyond the “PSL plus one” policy, but as things stand, ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB are expected to issue NOCs to the trio. —Agencies