Mohammad Haris forced to leave BPL after PCB denies NOC

Pakistan batter Mohammad Haris, who had arrived in Bangladesh to compete in the 2023-24 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), has had to return home after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) belatedly denied him a No Objection Certificate (NOC). The 22-year-old was slated to represent the Chattogram Challengers in the competition, which began on January 19.

Haris had marked his presence in two overseas leagues last year in the form of the Lanka Premier League and the Global T20 Canada, where he played for B-Love Kandy and Surrey Jaguars respectively. The new regime led by head coach Mohammad Hafeez and chief selector Wahab Riaz are being highly selective in terms of issuing NOCs for players to compete in overseas leagues.

Haris put out a message regarding the situation:

"Thank you, Chattogram team management and the BCB for taking care of me and giving me this opportunity. I also flew in on time to prepare myself to give some great games to my fans in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, my NOC was not issued. Hence, I will not play any games. I knew my team needed me. Hopefully, I will join them next year. I will definitely miss playing the BPL," Mohammad Haris said.

The franchise, who began the 2023-24 edition with a seven-wicket win over the Sylhet Strikers and lost their subsequent match to the Khulna Tigers, are yet to announce a replacement for Haris.

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Mohammad Haris last played for Pakistan in September 2023

The youngster's international career has gotten off to a rather sedate start, as he has not been able to make a case for himself even though the white-ball teams are in desperate need for fresh names. His last international appearance came during the Super 4 stage of the 2023 Asia Cup, in the virtual knockout clash against Sri Lanka.

Haris was not selected for the recently concluded five-match T20I series against New Zealand as well. Chief selector Wahab Riaz had stated that the player was rested and that some first-class players were preferred for the series instead.

"Haris is rested because there were some first-class performers and we saw Harris' capability and since he's part of our plans going forward, we want to use our pool of players," Wahab Riaz said.

Pakistan are scheduled to play a home series against the West Indies next. Based on the underwhelming performances of most of the team's batters in New Zealand, there may be a serious case for the talented youngster to return to the squad.