The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided not to grant NOCs to three of its star players—Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan—for participation in the Global T20 Canada (GT20 Canada 2024) that is going to be held later this year. It came after a consultation among the PCB, the selection committee, and the players. Last week the PCB also denied an NOC to Naseem Shah for the Hundred, where he was due to represent Birmingham Phoenix with a deal worth GBP 125,000.
ESPNcricinfo reported that the NOC denials for all four players were expected because of their importance to Pakistan’s all-format international team and the upcoming gruelling schedule. This, simply, is because Pakistan’s national team is going to play nine Tests, the ICC Champions Trophy, 14 ODIs, and nine T20Is between August 2024 and March 2025. Hence, making these key players available becomes an absolute necessity. It is not very difficult to establish where the PCB’s priorities lie—ensuring that the top guns are battle-ready for the grueling international commitments ahead.
Afridi, Azam, and Rizwan are irreplaceable parts of Pakistan cricket, where they excel in all formats. This only vindicates the fact that the PCB felt their availability would be needed for upcoming series and tournaments. Other players who had lesser red-ball commitments—Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, and Asif Ali—all got NOCs to feature in different T20 leagues.
Shaheen Shah will neither play GT20 Canada 2024 nor the Hundred
Even though the central contracts permit the players to participate in two overseas franchise competitions per year, the PCB can refuse NOCs whenever international commitments take precedence. This can be a cause for upset among the players, particularly those who were preparing for this league. Shaheen Afridi had previously refused to play in the Hundred and was due to play in the Global T20 Canada, prior to being refused an NOC.
The PCB is not likely to entertain NOC requests for all-format players from October 2024 to May 2025 because it is going to be a choc-a-bloc period with home and away series, Pakistan Super League, and ICC Champions Trophy. Bangladesh comes to play two Tests in mid-August, so the emphasis is sure to be on making sure that the national team will be at full strength and available with a tough international calendar ahead. The recent decisions of the PCB clearly spell out a strong commitment to align the cricketing commitments of Pakistan firmly in the global calendar.
Source: ESPN
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