The PCB are reportedly likely not to grant NOCs to several of their players who play in overseas franchise leagues over the next few months, setting them on a collision course with some high profile names.
According to a report from ESPNCricinfo, Naseem Shah is likely to be affected by the board's decision. Naseem has a contract with the Birmingham Phoenix for the upcoming edition of The Hundred, but will likely not be permitted to take his place in the side. Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, and Imad Wasim, the only other Pakistan players set to appear in the tournament, are not named in the report, and are likely to be allowed to play given that they are unlikely to feature across all formats for Pakistan in the immediate future.
The decision will also reportedly affect Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, and Babar Azam, who are set to appear in the Global T20 League in Canada. The ICC is yet to officially sanction that tournament, meaning the PCB cannot issue NOCs to their players; in other words, even if the league is sanctioned it is unlikely the PCB will allow the trio to play.
This is despite the fact that neither The Hundred nor the Global T20 League clash with any international cricket Pakistan are scheduled to play. The PCB reportedly wants to manage the workloads of their all-format players ahead of a two-match Test series against Bangladesh that begins on August 21.
Pakistan's schedule is jam-packed with international cricket until next May. They will play three Tests at home against England in October before limited-overs series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. They will then play a Test series in South Africa before playing another Test series at home against the West Indies, followed by a tri-series against South Africa and New Zealand leading into their home Champions Trophy, which takes the schedule up to next year's PSL.
Conditions in the multi-year contract Pakistan players signed last year allow players to feature in two overseas franchise leagues a year, providing those tournaments do not clash with international commitments. Withdrawing players from leagues that do not clash with international series is likely to cause friction with the affected players.
Pakistan performed poorly in the recent T20 World Cup, losing to the USA and failing to qualify from the group stages. It was their second disastrous campaign in a row after their calamitous 2023 World Cup. The last few months have been marked by instability in Pakistan cricket, with Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq sacked from the PCB selection committee, as well as the reinstatement of Babar Azam as white-ball captain following his resignation late last year.
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