Mohammad Amir's retirement forces PCB to make domestic participation mandatory
A PCB official has stated that from now on, the players have to play domestic matches in order to be eligible to play for the national team.
Mumbai: Mohammad Amir’s sudden decision to retire from Test format has prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to make participation in domestic leagues compulsory.
It is said that Amir is widely expected to move to UK, to live with his wife Narjis Amir who is a British passport holder, and play only T20Is and ODIs for Pakistan.
A PCB official has stated that from now on, the players have to play domestic matches in order to be eligible to play for the national team. The PCB is also mulling to restructure the domestic season in order to promote and extract good talents.
The PCB official stated, “For example, Muhammad Amir who has now retired from Test cricket has to play in the domestic One-Day cup and National T20 competitions to be considered for national selection.”
The source also mentioned that the players who are still playing the longer format will have to play first class cricket to get selected for the national team.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the cricket board to revamp its domestic cricket system. The first class cricket is now restricted to only six provincial sides while 16 local units will play in division two (three day) tournament apart from the national one-day trophy and T-20 contests.
As per the idea, initially, the board will sign 34 provincial players on contract basis after it decided to end the participation of institutional teams in the first class competition.