LAHORE: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi have each requested that their respective NoCs be excluded from the Global T20, a franchise competition that takes place in Canada this month. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has denied their demands.
In a late-night statement on Friday, the PCB stated that, considering Pakistan’s busy cricket schedule from August to March of next year, the decision was made in compliance with the board’s workload management policy.
The announcement said, among other players, that “the PCB had received NOC requests from Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Afridi for the Global T20 event.” The decision to deny the requests of the three players was made after considering Pakistan’s hectic and full cricket schedule from August 2024 to March 2025, which includes nine ICC World Test Championship matches and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 the following year. The national selection committee was also consulted.
The PCB felt that because Babar, Rizwan, and Shaheen were “all-format” cricket players, the board could not have let the talented three to play in a franchise T20 competition.
The PCB stated that Pakistan will play nine Tests, fourteen ODIs, and nine Twenty20 Internationals over the next eight months, during which time their skills will likely be needed. The three are all-format cricket players. Therefore, it is in the best interest of Pakistan cricket and the players to miss the upcoming event in Canada in accordance with the PCB’s workload management policy. This will allow them to be in peak physical and mental condition for the season, which starts with the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
For the same reasons, the PCB had previously denied Naseem Shah’s request for The Hundred.
In earlier news on Friday, the Press Trust of India reported that Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the PCB, had a meeting with trainers Gary Kirsten and Jason Gilliespie, who were also against these players playing in the GT20.
The board has granted Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Muhammad Amir, and Muhammad Nawaz NOCs in the interim. Iftikhar and Nawaz are centrally contracted players, although the other four are primarily white-ball cricket players.
Pakistan’s 2024–25 international schedule is jam-packed, as the PCB announced earlier this week that they will play three ODIs and five T20Is in New Zealand following the Champions Trophy in February and March.
Pakistan will play all-format rubbers in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand in addition to hosting West Indies, Bangladesh, and England at home.
As a prelude to the Champions Trophy, the PCB will also organize a triangular series with South Africa and New Zealand.
But even after the team’s terrible T20 World Cup performance, the PCB chairman and the national selectors have yet to hold a formal meeting with the senior players, including Babar.
