BCCI revokes NOC of Irfan Pathan for Bahrain Cricket festival

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to withdraw the NOC it issued to Irfan Pathan in relation to the Bahrain Cricket festival. The festival is a promotional event in Bahrain that is expected to promote the game of cricket in the country. The board had earlier issued the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the veteran all-rounder for his participation in the T20 exhibition game during the festival.

Irfan Pathan was stated to lead the team that was named after him in the tournament. The junior Pathan was to lead Irfan Falcons in the match against the Misbah-ul-Haq led team Eagles. The festival will have some other big names on the roster as well. BCCI has not issued any reasons for revoking the NOC. Incidentally, Irfan had already visited Bahrain for a promotional event and had attended a conference as well.

One of the renowned journalists confirmed the news on the social media site Twitter. He posted the update wherein he mentioned that the BCCI has withdrawn the NOC issued to Irfan Pathan. He tweeted, “Irfan Pathan travelled to Bahrain for the festival match. Sat in press conference for the match. On match day BCCI withdrew his NOC #Cricket.”

Not the first time by the BCCI

This is certainly not the first time that the Indian cricket board has shown the strict stance against letting their players participate in other leagues. Earlier in February this year, Yusuf Pathan, the brother of Irfan, was also set to participate in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz in Hong Kong. The board had initially shown no objections for his participation.

However, he was not granted the NOC at the very last moment following which he had to cancel his participation in the tournament. The BCCI has always had a reserve stance on the participation of the Indian players in the global T20 leagues. Perhaps the solitary reason for this is to preserve the standards of its homegrown Indian Premier League.