Mumbai: Yusuf Pathan never received an NOC (no-objection certificate) from the Indian cricket board to play T-20 matches in Hong Kong, it is learnt.
According to the highly placed sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), he was only granted a permission to play a few 50-over matches in Bangladesh. Pathan last year turned out for Abahani Limited in the 50-over Dhaka League games in Bangladesh.
The other player to get such permission to play in Bangladesh was Delhi’s Unmukt Chand, who played for Prime Bank.
“The BCCI gave him a NOC to play 50-over matches while Hong Kong is hosting T-20 matches for which he cannot go and play,” sources close to the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) said. The BCA official was reacting to the recent media reports suggesting that Pathan’s NOC had been withdrawn.
Amitabh Chaudhary, the BCCI’s acting secretary, said: “Please check with Yusuf Pathan. We never gave him such permission to play in Hong Kong.”
The tournament, which is known as DTC HK T20 Blitz, is to be held at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Mong Kok over five days from March 8 to 12.
This confusion, however, has surprised the management of Kowloon Cantons team for which Pathan was set to play. “At this stage we have no official intimation from the Baroda Criclet Board or the BCCI so the question of a replacement for Yusuf doesn’t arise,” Urvashi Sethi, the spokeswoman for the club, said from Hong Kong.
“The HKT20 is a Blitz and not a league and hence, the ICC has not given the matches T20 status [Hong Kong is an associate nation so they have been given ‘other’ status] we are still hopeful that the NOC will stand and Yusuf will play”, she added.
One of the team owners, Aparna Kapur Shankar, is likely to consult team coach Craig Wright for finding an able replacement should Pathan be unable to participate.
