The Australian franchise T20 league, one of the greatest cricket league in the format, BBL is going to start from December 15, 2024, with the final of the tournament scheduled to be played on January 27, 2025.
The draft of the Big Bash League(#BBL14Draft) for the overseas players took place on September 1, Sunday. All of the franchises selected big players for their squads from the different countries in which Pakistani players were also included.
A total of 70 Pakistani players from Pakistan had nominated their names for the draft in both the Men’s and women’s category. However, only one player from Pakistan was picked.
Among the enrolled names for Pakistani players for the BBL 2024-25 draft, only Usama Mir was picked by the Melbourne Stars. Usama Mir is a leg spinner bowler who has played in cricket world cup for Pakistan.
The other big Pakistani players who were not picked up by any franchise include Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Saim Ayub, Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Usman Qadir and Muhammad Husnain
The only player picked, Usama Mir represented Melbourne Stars in the last season of BBL. He took five wickets for his team in five games.
The performance of Pakistan cricket team has not been up to the mark in the last T20 world cup. Due to the continuous poor performance and early exit in the T20 world cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had issued a statement that they will not grant No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to their players. PCB wants Pakistani players to focus on their national duties and avoid the franchise leagues. This is one of the main reasons that Pakistan players were not picked by the franchises as there were doubts of their participation.
Moreover, Pakistan cricket team has a scheduled tour to South Africa in December. The tour starting from 10 December, 2024 includes 3 T20I, 3 ODIs and two test matches will end on January 3, 2025, which will create a clash with BBL schedule.
Therefore, the franchises opted to go with players who have no uncertainties to be available throughout the tournament.
