Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday (December 4) granted no-objection certificates to fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan, along with leg-spinner Usama Mir, allowing them to take part in the upcoming edition of Big Bash League (BBL).
In an official statement, PCB announced the approval for NOC to the aforementioned players.
"The Pakistan Cricket Board has issued no-objection certificates (NOC) to fast bowlers Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan and leg-spinner Usama Mir for the Big Bash League 2023-24. The board has issued the NOCs considering the workload of players and the future tours programme of the national men's team," PCB’s statement read.
Rauf and Mir, who are part of the Melbourne Stars squad, have been granted permission to participate in five matches each. On the other hand, Zaman will feature in four games for the Sydney Thunder.
"The PCB understands that this decision is in the best interests of all the stakeholders involved while balancing the importance of game time with workload management. Haris and Usama have been granted NOCs for a total of five matches whereas Zaman has been granted NOC for four matches. All these games are set to take place from 7 to 28 December," the statement further added.
Haris Rauf was not included in Pakistan's squad for the three-match Test series against Australia, slated to get underway on December 14 in Perth.
While announcing the squad, chief selector Wahab Riaz revealed that Rauf initially agreed to play Test cricket but changed his decision later on.
"We spoke to Haris Rauf for this tour. When we spoke to him two days ago, he gave his consent to play Test cricket for Pakistan. But last night he changed his mind, and now he doesn't want to be part of this Test series. I'm revealing this because we should be honest with officials, teammates, and the public. We spoke to Haris and he was worried about his body and fitness, as well as his workload. Mohammad Hafeez and I sat with him and tried to facilitate him in every way. We told him even if he didn't perform well there, we would accept it," Wahab had said.
(With ANI inputs)
