APL 2018: Pakistani players denied permission to feature in the tournament

The Pakistan Cricket Board has denied a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for their players to participate in the Afghanistan Premier League‘s (APL) inaugural season. This comes in as a huge blow for a few franchises as they will be missing out few of the biggest names in world cricket.

Several Pakistani cricketers have applied for a NOC last month, as reported by Geo.tv But some officials in the board have confirmed that there will be no change in the policy which prohibits players from participating in T20 tournaments organized by a select-few countries.

The four cricketers who will be at the receiving end of this are Iftikar Ahmed, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, and Sohail Tanvir. The franchises who would be missing the services of Pakistani cricketers are Balkh (Mohammad Irfan and Kamran Akmal), Kabul (Sohail Tanvir), Faheem Ashraf (Paktia) and Kandahar (Iftikar Ahmed).

Shahid Afridi will play in the APL 2018

The only Pakistani representative in the league will be their legendary cricketer Shahid Afridi, who recently retired from International cricket and is no longer contracted to the PCB. The former Pakistani captain will be the icon player for the Paktia franchise, where he will be accompanied by some big names like Chris Jordan, Mohammad Shahzad and Thisara Perera.

The tournament will kick-start on 5th October and the final will be played on 21st October. A lot of their senior national cricketers like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shinwari and Ashar Afghan will be keen to perform well in this tournament and help their national side grow in stature. It’ll be a great opportunity for a lot of young cricketers as well to share the dressing room with few of the best in the business.

Chris Gayle, Colin Munro, Brendon McCullum, Ryan ten Doeschate, Thisara Perera, Andre Russell and others will be in action for their respective franchises. The tournament is expected to draw worldwide attention and will also give their young players a great opportunity to work with some legendary names.

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