Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan to be denied NOCs by Pakistan Cricket Board for Global T20 Canada

The Global T20 Canada League will take place from July 25 to August 11. With less than a week remaining for the start of the competition, there are still doubts about whether the league will take place this year or not.

Pakistan's star players Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Nawaz, and Mohammad Amir are also a part of this league but are yet to receive the NOCs from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

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PCB reveals the details behind the delay in NOCs to star Pakistan players

According to the reports, the league is yet to receive approval from the International Cricket Council (ICC), with a decision expected soon. According to some sources, the organizers of the tournament are yet to pay their dues to Cricket Canada and ICC will only approve after this issue is resolved.

Star Pakistan players Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz have joined the Toronto Nationals team. Mohammad Rizwan has been appointed the captain of Vancouver Knights, with Babar Azam and Mohammad Amir a part of their squad as well.

However, the PCB has cited the ICC's non-approval of the tournament as the reason behind the non-issuance of NOCs to its players. Additionally, the board is also considering a policy to reduce the players' participation in foreign leagues to manage their workload.

Furthermore, some reports have conveyed that there have been suspicious activities and investigations that involve a team owner from India. There are no further details on this topic but the decision will be expected in the coming days. The ICC has stayed away from the controversy and has not commented on the issue.

Pakistan cricket is going through a tough phase

Pakistan cricket team is going through a tough time in the past few days. The team suffered an early elimination from the T20 World 2024, where they bowed out of the group stage of the tournament.

The Men in Green suffered shocking defeats to the USA and India. They were expected to beat an inexperienced team like the USA but lost the match in the Super Over. Then, they surrendered a winning position in the match against India to lose the match narrowly by 6 runs.

Despite winning their last two matches of the league stage against Canada and Ireland, Pakistan could not secure the qualification for the Super 8 stage. On the other hand, the USA scripted history by reaching the Super 8 stage for the first time.

After the early exit, the Pakistan cricket team and its players were heavily criticized by the fans and former experts within the country. Many experts called for a total change in the team and asked the senior players to give way to the new players.

Many experts asked Babar Azam to step down from the captaincy. Babar had a poor time in the T20 World Cup 2024. Although he was Pakistan's highest run-scorer of the tournament, his 122 runs in four innings came at a strike rate of 101.66, which again drew heavy criticism about his ability to adapt in modern-day T20 cricket.