On Tuesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released a list of players who had been granted no-objection certificates (NOCs) to participate in overseas leagues. Conspicuous by their absence were Azam Khan and Saim Ayub, meaning they will not take part in the Caribbean Premier League.
Several players have been issued NOCs for various leagues. They include Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Abrar Ahmed and Haris Rauf, all of whom were part of Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad. This document is a requirement for players to obtain from their home board before they can play in league competitions overseas.
The PCB has a contract clause stating that centrally and domestically contracted players are only allowed to obtain NOCs for two overseas competitions, citing workload management as the primary reason for this. In addition, participation in overseas leagues is dependent on national and/or domestic commitments, i.e. the latter will take priority in the event of a schedule clash.
This rule came to limelight earlier in the year when the PCB denied Usama Mir an NOC to play in the T20 Blast in England. He was free of international and domestic duties, but had already played two overseas leagues during the ongoing PCB contractual cycle (July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024) — The Hundred in England and the Big Bash League in Australia. With the new cycle starting from July 1, 2024, Mir has been granted an NOC for the 2024 season of The Hundred.
Saim Ayub, Azam Khan left off NOC list by PCB
Two prominent players left off the current NOC list are Saim Ayub and Azam Khan, both of whom have been re-signed by Guyana Amazon Warriors for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which starts in August. They were part of Pakistan's disappointing T20 World Cup campaign, and it has been suggested that the team's poor performance has led to their exclusion. However, Fakhar Zaman, also part of that squad, has been granted an NOC for the very same competition.
Read more: The bizarre reason Taskin Ahmed missed Bangladesh's T20 World Cup clash against India
During the last contractual cycle, Ayub represented Guyana in the CPL and Durdanto Dhaka in the Bangladesh Premier League while Azam played for Guyana and Desert Vipers in the International League T20. The pair lifted the CPL title together, with Ayub finishing as the second-highest runscorer in the tournament.
Given that the CPL only begins on August 29, there is still time for this decision to change and for one or both players to be granted an NOC. However, if that does not happen, Guyana will need to find replacements for them.
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