PCB denies refusing permission to Pak players to participate in Dhaka Cricket League

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has denied allegations that it had refused to allow its players to participate in the Dhaka Cricket League (DCL) and said that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) did not contact it to seek clearance.

According to the Daily Times, under the new ICC rules, a no-objection certificate (NOC) is mandatory from the home board for players to take part in a domestic competition in another country.

In a further worsening of the relations between the two cricket boards, after Bangladesh refused to tour Pakistan despite twice agreeing to a short limited over series, Pakistan earlier this year had allegedly refused to allow its players to feature in the Bangladesh Premier League, separate from the private Dhaka league.

However, PCB denied the allegations, saying that the BCB never contacted it to seek permission for players to feature in the league, adding that it is reasonable to expect PCB to deal with the governing body of cricket in a country rather than its affiliated units to permit players from playing in foreign leagues.

According to a PCB spokesman, although the organisers of the DCL contacted them at a very late stage, BCB never contacted them, with reports saying that the BCB refused the requests from the Dhaka league teams to take the initiative of talking to the PCB.