PCB denies NOC to Pakistan's all-format players for Global T20 League
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued a press release regarding No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for some of their all-format cricketers ahead of the Global T20 League. The board has turned down several requests, citing a packed international season in the following months.
The apex body of cricket in Pakistan has rejected NOC requests from Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, among others. Earlier, they rejected right-arm pacer Naseem Shah's NOC for The Hundred 2024, putting him in a position to lose a hefty sum of money after signing the deal.
The PCB released a statement in which they rejected several NOCs, citing a busy calendar consisting of all-format games from August to March.
"The PCB had received NOC requests from Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi for the Global T20 event, amongst other players. After taking into consideration Pakistan's busy and packed cricket calendar in the period from August 2024 to March 2025, which includes nine ICC World Test Championship matches and next year's ICC Champions Trophy 2025, and following consultations with the three players as well as the national selection committee, it has been decided to decline their requests," it read.
The statement added that the PCB requires their all-format players to be in the best mental and physical condition to deliver the best results; hence, the rejections.
"The three are all-format cricketers and their services are expected to be required in the upcoming eight months during which Pakistan will play nine Tests, 14 ODIs, and nine T20Is. As such, and in line with the PCB's workload management policy, it is in the best interest of Pakistan cricket and the players that they skip the upcoming event in Canada so that they are in their best mental and physical shape for the season, which commences with the two-Test series against Bangladesh," it concluded.
Pakistan's next assignment is a two-Test series against Bangladesh, beginning on August 21. That will be followed by a home Test series against England in October, post which the Men in Green have a limited-overs tour of Australia in November.
Pakistan will also visit South Africa for all-format matches in November-December and will return home in January to face the West Indies in red-ball games. The Champions Trophy in February 2025 precedes an ODI tri-series with New Zealand and South Africa. Their season ends with a visit to New Zealand for five T20Is and three ODIs.
PCB introduces reforms after Pakistan's T20 World Cup debacle
Meanwhile, the PCB has announced sweeping changes to Pakistan men's cricketing system after Babar Azam and Co. were eliminated in the group stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has made fitness tests mandatory every three months and wants players to give domestic cricket top priority.
While the board hasn't cut down on the players' salary, it will revisit the central contracts every 12 months. The hope is that such reforms will start producing better results.