One of the Pakistani stars won’t feature in the upcoming edition of The Hundred scheduled later this month.
One of the Pakistani stars won’t feature in the upcoming edition of The Hundred scheduled later this month. The Geo News has reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) won’t grant him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to feature in the tournament.
Naseem Shah, bought by Birmingham Phoenix for a whopping €125,000 (roughly INR 1.35 crore), won’t feature in the league after PCB denied giving him NOC. The reason to keep him out of action is workload management, for Pakistan have several crucial series in the World Test Championship (WTC), and Naseem is vital for the team.
Lately, Naseem has been injury-prone and underwent surgery on his shoulder, which kept him out of the World Cup 2023 and missed cricket for around four months. Further Shaheen Shah Afridi might miss the Bangladesh series due to the birth of his child, making Naseem’s availability even more vital for Pakistan.
“Shaheen can miss Bangladesh Test matches due to childbirth. We can give him (some) rest if he wants to stay with his wife till then,” Geo News quoted Gillispie as saying recently.
Talking about the league, The Hundred will start on 23 July with the contest between Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix and run for around a month. It will be the third edition of the league, with the other two receiving decent traction from fans and viewers.
Birmingham Phoenix will have to look for a replacement player now that Naseem Shah won’t feature at any stage. Fortunately, the Phoenix have plenty of quality options available, which would ease their job, even though the quality of Naseem Shah is hard to replicate.
Naseem is among the most skilled Pakistani bowlers and would fit in any team in the world, depicting his skillsets. His ability to move the ball in both directions at pace makes him arduous to handle.
Unfortunately, injuries have plagued his career lately, keeping him out of action for a large part of 2023. It is a big blow for Birmingham Phoenix, who will hope to get an ideal replacement before the tournament.
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