Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan’s replacement revealed for GT20 Canada 2024

Vancouver Knights on Friday announced replacements for Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for the Global T20 (GT20) Canada 2024 after they failed to secure NOCs from the PCB.

The batters were set to appear for the Knights, however, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) refused to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the top batters on the back of the busy schedule of the Pakistan cricket team.

“The PCB had received NOC requests from Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi for the Global T20 event, amongst other players,” the PCB had said in a statement after refusing to issue the players NOCs for the league.

“The three are all-format cricketers and their services are expected to be required in the upcoming eight months during which Pakistan will play nine Tests, 14 ODIs, and nine T20Is,” the country’s cricket-governing body added.

According to the PCB, it was in the best interest of Pakistan cricket and the players that they skip the upcoming event in Canada to be in their best mental and physical shape for the upcoming cricket season.

It is pertinent to mention that the Vancouver Knights announced Mohammad Rizwan as the captain of the team for the GT20 Canada 2024 while Babar Azam was set to play under his captaincy.

Following the confirmation of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision, the team has brought in South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks to replace Babar and Rizwan has been replaced by Australian top-order batter Usman Khawaja.

The Australian left-handed batter led the Vancouver Knights in the GT20 Canada 2024 opener against the Toronto Nationals.

While Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan was denied NOCs for the league cricket, the PCB approved NOCs for Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, and Mohammad Nawaz.

The four players are predominantly white-ball cricketers, while Iftikhar and Nawaz are centrally contracted players.

Earlier, the PCB had also declined permission to Naseem Shah for The Hundred to manage his workload.