Three star performers and bowlers of Afghanistan Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-Ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi were not granted the central contract by their cricket boards.
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has decided to delay the contract of these three players and also they will not grant the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the next two years. According to ACB, these players wanted to remain out of the annual contracts of the team and to play franchise cricket mostly. As the players prioritize the franchise cricket more than their national team, the ACB took this decision.
If the players don’t get the NOC then they will be unable to play the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024. This will definitely create problems for the players for further participation in any franchise cricket.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board says,
“The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has decided to delay the 2024 annual contracts for national players, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-Ul-Haq Mureed. Additionally, the board has opted not to grant them No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for the next two years following their intention to be released from their annual central contracts.”
On the other hand, Mujeeb was signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2 crores in the 2024 IPL auction, whereas Naveen was retained by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Fazalhaq was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
The central contracts of ACB were renewed from 1st January 2024 for a period of one year. Some officials of the board revealed that the players wanted to remain away from the contracts, so that they can play the franchise cricket easily.