A number of Pakistani cricket players were given “limited” clearance to play in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL-13) on Monday after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued no-objection certificates (NOCs).
The board gave Haris Rauf, Usama Mir, and Zaman Khan the go-ahead to compete in the next season of Australia’s premier league, “taking into consideration the workload of players and the future tours programme of the national men’s team.”
But only “specific matches” have been approved by the board, and the NOCs are not applicable for the duration of the tournament.
“This decision is in the best interests of all the stakeholders involved while balancing the importance of game time with workload management,” the release from the board stated.
Pakistan’s pace attack leader, Rauf (Melbourne Stars), has been allowed to play in five games. Likewise, NOCs have been granted to Mir (Melbourne Stars) and Zaman Khan (Sydney Thunders) for five and four matches, respectively.
These NOCs are allotted during a certain duration in an effort to strike a balance between their involvement and national obligations.
The national cricket team is eligible to play in Australia’s biggest event, which runs from December 7–28.
The Melbourne Stars will be relieved now that Rauf’s participation has been approved. In order to cover for Rauf, who had already arrived in Melbourne for the BBL, they called up Olly Stone of England.
Imad Wasim, a recently retired Pakistani player, has signed with the Stars to replace England’s Liam Dawson. The announcement was made earlier.
Blair Crouch, general manager of the Melbourne Stars, stated, “We identified Wasim as a player who could come in and perform a role for us with his left-arm spin and lengthen our batting lineup.” Liam was available for the first three games.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing lots of Pakistan fans in the crowd at the MCG with Imad joining his former national teammates, Usama Mir and Haris Rauf.”
The Melbourne Stars’ roster for the 13th BBL season includes the following players: Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell, Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Dawson (England), Joel Paris, Haris Rauf (Pakistan), Tom Rogers, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Imad Wasim (Pakistan), and Beau Webster.
The BBL is slated to begin on December 7, 2023, and end on January 24 of the following year
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