Three young uncapped Pakistani cricketers have walked out from playing for the first-class sides in the country, preferring instead to take part in the T10 league that will be held at Abu Dhabi, giving a new turn to the ongoing issues between the players and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Seamer Haris Rauf and batters Sohail Akhtar and Mirza Ehsan Baig have decided to fly out to UAE for the tournament even though the PCB is yet to give them a NOC.
“These three players informed their teams in domestic first-class cricket after the national T20 championship that they couldn’t play any longer in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as they were going to play for their Pakistan Super League franchise, Lahore Qalanders,” a well-informed source said.
He added the trio were trying to play in the Qalandars side in the upcoming tournament. The source added that the three were not interested in playing red-ball cricket as they were white-ball specialists. “Basically all three told their coaches that they were not interested in red-ball cricket and were white-ball specialists and left their teams,” the source said.
A PCB official stated that while the players were free to play in any league in the world, they could not play in the T10 without a NOC from the board.
“The T10 league is an event recognized by the ICC so players have to show NOCs of their home boards to play in the event,” he said.
The Qalandars side is an off-shoot of the Pakistan Super League team Lahore Qalandars, and the franchise owners were upset after the PCB revoked the NOCs of a number of players from the country. However, according to reports, the decision came directly from the Prime Minister Imran Khan as there is the involvement of a lot of Indians in the T10 league.
Lahore Qalandars feel undone as they had entered the T10 competition with a majority of their players being from Pakistan. A number of domestic players from the nation have also spoken to the PCB CEO Wasim Khan and conveyed their concerns about how the lack of NOCs for the T10 will hamper them financially.