Cricket South Africa refuses to grant NOCs to PSL-bound players

Cricket South Africa (CSA) will not grant No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to any of their centrally contracted players for the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL).

CSA's Director of Cricket Graeme Smith asserted that CSA want their players to prioritize international and domestic commitments. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, the former Proteas captain said:

"It is true that contracted members of the Proteas team had their NOCs for the Pakistan Super League refused due to the international schedule and domestic competitions which must always be prioritized. With an away tour to New Zealand and a home tour against Bangladesh, our contracted players have to be available for their national team duties."

He added:

"The same applies with regard to our domestic franchise tournaments which will be starting up soon. If and when opportunities in other international T20 tournaments arise and the timings and fixtures do not clash with our own, CSA will happily approve NOCs, as we have always done in the past."

However, South Africa's decision to bar players from participating in the PSL doesn't affect any of the centrally contracted cricketers. Three cricketers, Marchant de Lange, Imran Tahir and Rilee Rossouw, who are part of PSL 2022, are not contracted with CSA.

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PSL to rely primarily on local players as replacements

The replacement draft is due to take place before the start of PSL. However, picking a South African cricketer on international duty is no longer an option after CSA's recent directives.

The Multan Sultans have picked David Willey, Johnson Charles and Ben Dunk while Quetta Gladiators have opted for hard-hitting West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer.

Replacement draft picks:

Islamabad United: Musa Khan, Zahir Khan, Muhammad Huraira

Karachi Kings: Sahibzada Farhan, Jorda Thompson, Muhammad Taha

Lahore Qalandars: Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Aqib Javed, Ben Dunk

Multan Sultans: David Willey, Rizwan Hussain, Johnson Charles, Dominic Drakes

Peshawar Zalmi: Mohammad Umer

Quetta Gladiators: Ghulam Mudassar, Luke Wood, Will Smeed, Ali Imran, Shimron Hetmyer