Deadlock Persists Over Pakistan Cricket Board's New Contracts Ahead Of Asia Cup

26.08.2023 - 15:13 sports.ndtv.com

The deadlock between the Pakistan Cricket Board and the national team players over the signing of new central contracts is yet to be resolved ahead of the all-important Asia Cup in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

A well-informed insider in the board on Saturday confirmed that there were still a number of issues to be sorted out and at one stage senior pacer, Shaheen Shah Afridi had refused to sign the new central contract after the PCB denied him an NOC for the Emirates T20 International League. "Shaheen got so frustrated at the board's refusal to issue him an NOC that he made it clear it would be best if he didn't sign any contract with the board and played as a freelancer," the insider said.

The board then averted a similar situation with some other players by agreeing to issue NOCs for the Emirates League to be held in January-February.

Shaheen has secured an USD 400,000 contract for two or three years and an additional USD 150,000 for the league by marketing his NFTs online.

cricket Pakistan Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Board Asia Cup 2023 cup contracts Shaheen Shah Afridi Zaka Ashraf Sri Lanka Afghanistan Pakistan

The Asia Cup 2023 has been severely affected by rain in Sri Lanka. The tournament is being played in a hybrid model, with most of the matches played in the island nation while four games being played in Pakistan. However, India's match against Pakistan on Saturday had to be abandoned due to rain. Not a single ball could be bowled in the second innings. Then, on Monday, there was rain after India captain Rohit Sharma and chose to bowl against Nepal.

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