The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) denied the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi for participating in the upcoming Global T20 League Canada.
All three of them are considered important pillars of the Pakistan cricket team and the PCB made the decision to give them rest as the Green Shirts have to play a lot of cricket before the commencement of Champions Trophy 2025, which will be hosted in the country.
Pakistan’s schedule till May 2025 is jam-packed due to which the PCB denied the NOCs to players. The main priority for the Mohsin Naqvi-led board is the players’ fitness and making sure they remain injury-free and are well-rested.
“The PCB has provided the following update on the player NOC requests for the Global T20 due to be played in Canada later this month,” the body said in a presser.
“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 said.
The cricket body added that the three all-format players 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
“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,” the statement added.
It is worth mentioning that the PCB’s policy is to allow players to play two franchise cricket leagues alongside the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Pakistan’s schedule for remainder of 2024
August: Two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home as part of World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25
October: Three-match Test series against England at home as part of World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25
November 4-18: Travel to Australia to play three ODIs and three T20s
November 20-December 5: Travel to Zimbabwe to play three ODIs and three T20s
December 10-January 03, 2025: Travel to South Africa to play Three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests