NOC row clouds Pakistani players' Nepal league participation amid talk of a $25,000 fee per cricketer

Uncertainty has arisen over Pakistani cricketers playing in the Nepal Premier League (NPL). Cricketers waiting to take part in the tournament have run into complications over no-objection certificates, or NOCs, from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Cricinfo reported that even players who had earlier been given NOCs have now been told to keep their permission to play in the league suspended for the time being. As a result, the participation of many cricketers has become uncertain at the last moment.

Citing several people linked to the NPL, Cricinfo said there is talk that the PCB has demanded money in exchange for giving NOCs to Pakistani cricketers. The fee is thought to be around 25,000 US dollars for each cricketer.

However, the outlet could not confirm whether such a demand had been made to the league authorities in writing. It is also not yet clear whether the possible fee is the main reason behind the NOC complications. The PCB did not respond immediately on the matter.

The eight-team NPL starts on 26 October and will run until 21 November. The tournament's matches will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Several Pakistani cricketers have already reached there. Others who were preparing to travel to Nepal have postponed their journeys until the situation is resolved.

Pakistan's T20 captain Sahibzada Farhan, Haider Ali, Hunain Shah, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hasan Ali and Usama Mir are among those scheduled to play in the NPL.

Earlier this year the PCB announced a new central contract structure. It kept separate arrangements for white-ball and red-ball cricket. The structure also included a category called 'Format Track D', under which cricketers were to be considered T20 specialists.

In principle, cricketers in this category were to be allowed to play in as many T20 franchise leagues as they wished. The condition, however, is that the schedule must not clash with the PCB's fixed international matches.

But the PCB has not publicly stated which cricketer falls into which category in the new structure. It is also unclear whether the structure has come into effect. None of the cricketers travelling to play in the NPL is currently in Pakistan's Test or ODI plans. Even so, the uncertainty over their participation in the Nepal league has not cleared.