Some of the top cricketers are contemplating terminating their central contracts with the Pakistan Cricket Board after some were refused NOCs to go and play in foreign T20 leagues. (More Cricket News)
According to sources in the team management, most of the centrally contracted p❀layers are upset with the board for not allowing them to play in foreign leagues despite being free from national commitments.
"The matter has come to a head because recently the board refused NOCs to some players including Zaman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, and Muhammad Haris (all centrally contracted🎶) to play in the Bangladesh Premier League on the grounds that they had already played two leagues besides the Pakistan Super League," a source said.
He said that under the current PCB policy finalised during the tenure of Zaka Ashraf, centrally contracted players would be allowed to play in two fore🌌ign T20 leagues besides the PSL.
"But for the players who are not centrally contracted, there is no such binding unless they are req🌸uired on national duty."
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But most of the contracted players believe th🌟e board is following a dual policy based on whims and fancies when it comes to issuing NOCs.
"The players feel that when there is no Pakistan assignment before the PSL why should the board stop them from playing in other leagues where they have good contracts," another source said♔.
"The players' grouse i꧋s that the PCB does not even pay them anything to cover the losses of contracts not accepted because of PC🦄B policies."
With the mushrooming of lucrative T20 leagues around the cricket world at present three leagues are being simultaneously held including the BPL, the International Emirateꦿs League in UAE and the South Africa 20 league, meaning, potentially more earning opportunities for players.
A board official confided that the players need to understand that t♑hey are being compensated if they follow the cap on leagues as they are paid a hefty monthly salary by the board under their central contracts regardless of whether﷽ they are playing or not.
"The top category players are getting paid around ꦗ6 million rupees salary, those in category B gಌet around 4.8 million so why are they complaining," the source questioned.
However, an agent for one of the players said that the board deducted heavy taxes from those salaries and top players were getting offers of earning between USD 100,000 to USD 300,000 for pla꧟ying five to six matches o🐟r more in a league.
"Do you know the contract value of Babar Azam༒ and Shaheen Afridi for the BPL and ILT? Suffice to say one of them has a contract for USD 300,000 which is around 75 to 🌱80 million rupees."
He also noted that the leagues were a major revenue🤡 source for players who didn’t h🅘ave contracts with the PCB. He said that some players had even discussed terminating their contracts with the board and becoming free agents.
"I think when the new Chairman takes over there will be proper ꧃discussions between the players and board to reso♔lve this NOCs issue."
