Taking a u-turn on their initial decision of calling back its contracted players from overseas assignments, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has allowed them to ply their trades in the Caribbean Premier League and England’s domestic tournament. The PCB had initially taken the decision to have the players available for national as well as domestic tournaments.
“The centrally contracted players were given permission for participation in the CPL and English county season subject to recall if the World XI series took place mid-September, they are now being recalled owing to the changes in schedule brought about due to the change in the original World XI tour of Pakistan plan,” PCB had stated in a media release earlier this month.
However, Najam Sethi, the PCB chairman, confirmed that the board has changed its initial decision due to the latest developments surrounding the World XI series and the Pakistan domestic competition -National T20.
“The World XI series was not officially confirmed when we set the dates for our domestic tournament. That series falls right in the middle of when our competition would have been played. Then there’s a by-election [on September 17], and after that, the team has to go to the UAE, so the competition was squeezed out. As a result, we have moved it to November,” Sethi said in a press conference on Monday (August 21).
Previously, the PCB had planned to host the national T20 cup from August 25 to September 10, before the World XI series was officially confirmed to take place.
“An added advantage of this arrangement is that our players who are taking part in the CPL and another county will be able to take full part in those tournaments. This will make the players happy too, as well as the CPL,” he added.
Due to PCB’s initial decision, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Sami, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Wahab Riaz, Shadab Khan, Kamran Akmal, Hasan Ali and Sohail Tanvir had cut short their stints in West Indies while Sarfraz Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, and Mohammad Amir had returned from England. The players will now undergo fitness tests before leaving for their respective teams.