Afghanistan's IPL-bound players will directly fly to UAE from Trinidad & Tobago.
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has allowed all its six national players to continue playing in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 till its conclusion next Thursday despite a clash with the Shpageeza T20 league slated to begin this Sunday in Kabul.
The six Afghanistan players include star spinner Rashid Khan (Barbados Tridents) and other five players – Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Jamaica Tallawahs), Mohammad Nabi, Zahir Khan, Najibullah Zadran (All St. Lucia Zouks) and Naveen-ul-Haq (Guyana Amazon Warriors).
The IPL-bound Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb will later fly directly to United Arab Emirates from Trinidad & Tobago to play in the upcoming play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 starting on 19th Sept.
Earlier, the ACB had planned to fly the six players to Kabul on a charter plane by September 5 – a day before the start of the Shpageeza league, but the board is now facing logistical challenges in arranging the charter since most of the Caribbean countries have now closed their borders, including Trinidad & Tobago, hence they have to extend their stay in the CPL 2020.
With a mandatory six-day quarantine in the UAE, the ACB said that the three players – Rashid, Nabi (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Mujeeb (Kings XI Punjab) would not have enough time to join their IPL team if they were to participate in the Shapageeza League, so they will directly fly to UAE.
On the other hand, the other three players Zahir, Zadran and Naveen will travel to Kabul on September 12 and participate in the Shpageeza League.
In a statement, CPL said on Friday (September 4): “The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) extends its thanks to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) for ensuring that the Afghan players who are taking part in this year's tournament have been able to stay until the conclusion of the event.”
While CPL's chief operating officer Pete Russell stated in a media release: “We understand the importance of the Shpageeza Cricket League to the ACB and the reasons why it had to be scheduled during the CPL after the NOCs were all issued. We truly appreciate the Chairman of the ACB allowing these six Afghan players to stay at the Hero CPL until its conclusion.”
He added, “Afghan players have had a huge impact on our competition, both this season and in previous years, and we are very grateful to have them with us until the final on 10 September.”
Russell signed off by saying, “I would also like to put on record our thanks to CWI's President and CEO for taking the time to resolve this situation, which has shone a light on the issues leagues such as CPL face with the current NOC policy and system.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)