The participation of several Pakistani cricketers in the Nepal Premier League (NPL) remains uncertain after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reportedly put their no-objection certificates (NOCs) on hold.

According to ESPNcricinfo, several people associated with the league confirmed that even players who had previously received NOCs were informed that their permission to participate had been suspended.

The PCB has also reportedly demanded around $25,000 per player for issuing NOCs. However, the report could not independently verify whether the board had formally communicated the demand in writing.

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The eight-team tournament is scheduled to run from October 26 to November 21 in Kathmandu. Several Pakistani players have already arrived in Nepal, while others have delayed their travel plans pending a resolution.

Pakistan’s T20I captain Sahibzada Farhan, Haider Ali, Hunain Shah, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, and Usama Mir are among the players expected to feature in the competition.

However, Farhan’s participation has faced a separate setback after he was named as Saim Ayub’s replacement in Pakistan’s ODI squad for the ongoing tri-nation series against England and Sri Lanka.

The PCB confirmed on Monday that Ayub had been released from the squad after requesting to return to domestic cricket to improve his batting form and regain confidence. Farhan, who had already arrived in Kathmandu, is now expected to return to Pakistan for international duty.

Meanwhile, the NOC issue has raised questions about the PCB’s revised central-contract structure announced earlier this year.

Under the new framework, the board introduced separate arrangements for red-ball and white-ball cricket, including a Track D category for T20 specialists. The category was intended to provide players with greater flexibility to participate in overseas franchise leagues, provided there were no conflicts with international commitments.

However, the PCB has yet to publicly clarify which players fall under the revised categories or whether the system has been fully implemented.

Apart from Farhan, the Pakistani players expected to participate in the NPL are not currently part of the national team’s Test or ODI plans during the tournament.

The situation has raised concerns over how the PCB intends to implement its revised policy for overseas leagues, particularly as the reported NOC fee remains unconfirmed.

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