Mujeeb omitted from Melbourne team over NOC

The row surrounding Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s request to be omitted from Afghanistan’s central contract list for 2024 has continued, with the spinner removed from Melbourne Renegades’ squad for their game on Tuesday.

Mujeeb had been set to face Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash’s cross-city derby, but a Renegades statement revealed that “a change to his No-Objection Certificate (NOC) conditions made him unavailable for the match”.

He had been one of three Afghanistan players to approach his national governing body, requesting exclusion from a central contract for 2024, with seamers Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi the others.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board responded by refusing to hand out NOCs to the trio for the next two years, while also revoking NOCSs for ongoing competitions.

“The insistence on not signing the central contract for these players was their involvement in commercial leagues, prioritising their personal interests over playing for Afghanistan, which is regarded as a national responsibility,” a board statement added at the time. “By opting for their release, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has decided to take disciplinary measures against these players.”

Naveen and Farooqi have since returned to the national fold after approaching the ACB; both are involved in an ongoing T20I series against UAE in Sharjah.

But Mujeeb has remained in Melbourne, with Renegades maintaining until this development that there had been nothing to suggest his availability had changed. That appears now to have changed.

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