South African players will not be able to display their skills in the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) as their NOCs have been rejected by the country’s cricket board to prioritise domestic tournaments.

The 2022 edition of PSL is due to get underway on January 27, with defending champions Multan Sultans taking on Karachi Kings in the opening match.

Confirming the development, Cricket South Africa's (CSA) Director of Cricket Graeme Smith said Proteas players need to be available for the national team keeping in mind the upcoming tours.

"It is true that contracted members of the proteas team had their NOCs for the Pakistan Super League refused due to the Proteas international schedule and domestic competitions which must always be prioritised," ESPNcricinfo quoted Smith as saying.

"With an away tour to New Zealand and a home tour against Bangladesh, our contracted players have to be available for their national team duties first and foremost. The same applies with regard to our domestic franchise tournaments which will be starting up soon," he added.

Smith said CSA will issue NOCs if the scheduling of tournaments doesn't clash with the Proteas’ own fixtures.

"If and when opportunities in other international T20 tournaments arise and the timings and fixtures do not clash with our own, CSA will happily approve NOCs, as we have always done in the past."

Coming to PSL 2022, Karachi will host 15 matches from January 27 to February 7 before the action shifts to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, where the remaining 15 league matches and the four play-offs will be played from February 10-27.

(With ANI inputs)