PCB bars players from featuring in Afghan T20 League

Author: by special corresponden

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Friday announced that it would not be issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to Pakistan players and coaches contracted to participate in the Afghanistan Twenty20 League, following a breakdown in relations between the two boards in the wake of Wednesday’s blast in Kabul. At least 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded in Kabul in an attack which, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said, had been carried out by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network with assistance from Pakistan. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) subsequently cancelled all proposed fixtures between the countries, saying no agreement of friendly matches was possible between both parties.

“No player or official can feature in the league,” a media release of the PCB said. Last week, an agreement was reached between the ACB and the PCB management to play bilateral matches at all age group levels including at the national level, in Kabul and Lahore during July and August. That agreement collapsed in the wake of deadly Kabul bombing.

Afghanistan’s domestic T20 league, the Shpageeza League, was set to host a number of Pakistan players in its inaugural edition due to be held in Kabul in July this year. Babar Azam, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanveer and Rumman Raees had all been picked up by franchises participating in the Afghan T20 league. The fifth edition of the six-team Shpageeza League begins in Kabul on July 18.

Security situation there is very bad: Sethi: Offering a brief explanation as to why the decision was taken to bar players from featuring in the Shpageeza T20 League, Najam Sethi, PCB executive committee chairman, Friday tweeted his thoughts on the development. “PCB will not issue NOCs to players/coaches/umpires for Afghanistan. Security situation there is very bad,” he said. The Pak-Afghan cricket relationship is in many ways a reflection of the geo-political power-play that defines South-Asian politics. In 2013, a deal between ACB and PCB was reached with the aim of giving Afghan cricketers access to the training and coaching facilities at Lahore’s National Cricket Academy. After complications arose, the ACB found a different venue for the programme – Greater Noida in India.

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