PCB denies NOC to Naseem Shah to appear in The Hundred

Lahore (Pakistan), July 13: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided not to grant pacer Naseem Shah a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in The Hundred under workload management, sources told Geo News.

The sources told Geo News that after considering the Pakistani cricketer’s application, the decision to reject the NOC was taken as a preventive measure.

The sources stated that Naseem’s application was rejected to protect him from injuries as the youngster plays for Pakistan in all three formats and had injuries and fitness issues last year.

Naseem underwent surgery in October 2023 to treat his shoulder injury. The surgery ruled him out of the 2023 ICC World Cup, where Pakistan were knocked out in the group stage.

After his surgery, doctors advised him to rest and rehabilitate for four to six weeks before returning to the field. This injury kept him out of action for at least three to four months.

Pakistan will be playing crucial World Test Championship matches in the coming months. They will play a two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting on August 21.

Pakistan Red Ball head coach Jason Gillispie has already hinted at the possible unavailability of star player Shaheen Shah Afridi for the series.

Shaheen and his wife Ansha, who got married last year, are expecting their first child, which could cause him to miss the Test series against Bangladesh next month.

“Shaheen may miss Bangladesh Test matches due to childbirth. We can give him (some) rest if he wants to stay with his wife until then,” Pakistan’s red-ball coach Jason Gillispie said, as quoted by Geo News.

Besides red-ball cricket, Pakistan will return to limited-over cricket against Australia in November.

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