Pakistan players unlikely to play Abu Dhabi T10 after PCB asks $10,000 per NOC

Pakistan players are unlikely to feature in the Abu Dhabi T10, which starts on Saturday 7 November, after the PCB said it would issue no-objection certificates (NOCs) only if the league pays $10,000 for each one, ESPNcricinfo reported. At today's interbank rate that is about Rs 27.7 lakh per player (dollar rate).

What happened

• Five of the six Abu Dhabi T10 teams picked 16 Pakistani cricketers in the player draft on 30 September. Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan and Azam Khan were among those picked.
• The league applied for NOCs soon after the draft. According to officials quoted by ESPNcricinfo, the PCB told the league about the $10,000 condition only at the start of this week, days before the first ball.
• Some players were ready to pay the fee from their own pockets if team owners refused, but mediation has failed and franchises are now looking for replacements.

Not the first time this season

Last month the PCB held back NOCs for the Nepal Premier League unless it paid $25,000 per player. Hussain Talat and Jahandad Khan kept playing there; most of the others came home without a game.

The fee policy goes back to the launch of the UAE's ILT20. The PCB's argument, which an official told ESPNcricinfo still holds, is that it charges leagues where the exchange is one-sided: Pakistan players are in demand abroad, while players from those countries are rarely wanted in the PSL.

What the new central contracts allow

The PCB's new central contracts changed how many foreign leagues each player may join:

The old "PSL plus two" rule allowed every centrally contracted player two foreign leagues.

Why it matters for fans here

The T10 is one of the few leagues Pakistani fans follow for their own stars in November, and the fee row means fewer familiar names. Pakistan's own season is busy anyway: Sri Lanka's tour begins with the first Test in Rawalpindi on 9 November at 9:30am PKT, and the U19 Asia Cup in Muscat starts for Pakistan on 6 November. See today's fixtures and where to watch on our PTV Sports live guide.