New Delhi: 13 top Pakistani cricketers playing in England and West Indies including captain Sarfraz Ahmed will have to return home as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suddenly canceled their No-Objection Certificates (NoC) so that they can take part in the domestic competition.
PCB were forced to reschedule the National T20 Cup, Pakistan’s top domestic T20 tournament because of the change in the dates of the ICC World XI series to be held in mid-September. Pakistan is also slated to play a full fledged series against Sri Lanka in UAE later on.
"Owing to the late finalisation and rescheduling of the ICC World XI series to be played mid-September, the PCB has been obliged to schedule its National T20 Cup to start near the end of August and finish before the World XI series so that its national team can leave for UAE to play Sri Lanka starting September 24," the PCB explained. "This has compelled the PCB to call back centrally contracted players in contention for selection for the World XI series next month from their ongoing Caribbean Premier League and English county stints.
Sarfraz Ahmed, who was contracted with English County side Yorkshire, Mohammed Amir, who was playing a crucial role for Essex and Champions Trophy final centurion Fakhar Zaman, who was slated to play for Somerset in September have all been informed about the developments and asked to return to Pakistan immediately.
Caribbean Premiere League will be affected the most as 10 Pakistani cricketers were playing for different franchises.
Amongst the 13, only three players – Karman Akmal, Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Sami, who are playing in CPL, are not centrally contracted with the board but they have been asked to report back in Pakistan after their selection for Rawalpindi, Faislabad and Lahore respectively.
The returning players have been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy for fitness and medical tests under Arthur's supervision on August 22.