ILT20 League: The only Pakistani participant in the International League T20 (ILT20), Azam Khan, has withdrawn from the tournament. The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has not received the NOC to compete in the UAE T20 league from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The only team in the six-team league that is not owned by an Indian, Desert Vipers, signed him. Follow Insidesport.IN for LIVE updates about ILT20
ILT20 League: No Pakistani players in UAE T20 League as Pakistan Cricket Board denies NOC to Azam Khan, Desert Vipers to sign replacement soon, Follow LIVE Updates
Also Read: ILT20: International League T20 Trophy unveiled in Dubai – Check pics (insidesport.in)
Presenting the trophy for the inaugural season of International League T20!#internationalleaguet20 #ilt20 #ILT20onlyonzee #ADKR #DesertVipers #DubaiCapitals #GulfGiants #MIEmirates #SharjahWarriors pic.twitter.com/vccIGHQI7D
— UAE international League T20 (@UAEILT20) October 10, 2022
ILT20 is a professional franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament with 6 franchise teams, comprising 84 International and 24 UAE-based players, competing in a 34-match event. The six franchises include Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (Kolkata Knight Riders), Desert Vipers (Lancer Capital), Dubai Capitals (GMR), Gulf Giants (Adani Sportsline), MI Emirates (Reliance Industries), and Sharjah Warriors (Capri Global).
Azam Khan has played 86 T20s so far, scoring 1706 runs at a strike rate of 141.45.
ILT20 League: No Pakistani players in UAE T20 League as Pakistan Cricket Board denies NOC to Azam Khan, Desert Vipers to sign replacement soon, Follow LIVE Updates
“We have received correspondence from the PCB that NOCs are not being granted to the Pakistan players. It was up to the owners whether to take Pakistan players or not, and at least one owner, Lancer Capital, were interested,” an ILT20 source was quoted as saying by CricBuzz.
An official from the PCB confirmed the information, stating that Pakistani players won’t be issued NOCs and that the Dubai league’s organisers had been told of this.
This decision comes as no surprise given that most of the owners in the league are Indian. The Indian owners obviously do not favour players from Pakistan due to the diplomatic animosity between the two nations.
International League T20 on Monday unveiled the trophy for the upcoming inaugural edition of the league, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates from 13th January to 12th February 2023.
The International League T20, which has received multi-year ICC approval, will air exclusively live on ZEE’s 10 linear channels in English, Hindi, and Tamil as well as on its OTT platform ZEE5, Zee Entertainment said in an official statement.
