Pakistan Cricket Team Director Mohammad Hafeez addressed the concerningtrend of players prioritizing international leagues over domestic cricket,emphasizing the importance of representing Pakistan.
This comes in response to all-rounder Imad Wasim’s decision to skip thePakistan Cup and National T20 in favor of participating in the Abu DhabiT10, followed by his retirement announcement.
Hafeez highlighted the team management’s desire for players to acknowledgethe significance of red-ball cricket. Pacer Haris Rauf, who was denied aNOC, was encouraged to play in a domestic tournament rather than the BigBash League (BBL). The management aims to safeguard Pakistan cricket byensuring players prioritize the country and domestic cricket.
Expressing concern over the shift away from red-ball cricket, Hafeezmentioned measures would be taken to bring focus back to this format. Heacknowledged the importance of long-form cricket in polishing players’basics and stated that promoting those who excel in red-ball cricket ispart of the strategy to improve the overall game.
Hafeez announced the upcoming release of the PCB’s NOC policy, takingplayers’ workloads into consideration. He stressed the need for playerswith central contracts to be available for Pakistan, considering theschedules of all three formats.
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With an eye on the T20 World Cup, Hafeez emphasized the importance ofmanaging players’ workloads to ensure fitness and performance.
Commending Babar Azam for his contributions to Pakistan cricket, Hafeezaddressed the press conference before the team’s departure for theAustralia Test series.