PCB grants NOCs to pacers Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan, leg-spinner Usama Mir for BBL

PCB released an official statement to announce the approval for NOC to the players which read, "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."

Rauf and Mir have been allowed to play five matches while Zaman will only feature in just four matches. The matches will be played from December 7 to 28. Rauf and Mir will represent the Melbourne Stars, while Zaman is with 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.

Rauf isn't a part of Pakistan's three-match Test series against Australia which will begin on December 14. Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz attacked speedster Haris Rauf for backing out from the forthcoming Australia Tests and said that it would hurt the 'Men in Green'.

While announcing the 18-member squad of Pakistan for their tour of Australia, the chief selector revealed that Rauf agreed to play Test cricket but later changed his mind.

"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 said earlier. (ANI)