The 2016 Pakistan Super League (PSL), which is scheduled to start from 4 February, has received a huge blow with West Indies skipper Jason Holder being denied permission to participate in the tournament. All the participating players are required to acquire a no objection certificate to play in the PSL, but the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB ) have rejected the player's plea for the same.
Quetta Gladiators are the biggest losers in such a scenario as the player was drafted by the franchise as a key international player, who could have made a lot of difference with his all-round skills in the competition.
But the WICB are pretty much clear as they want their contracted players to play domestic cricket in West Indies. Holder is not only the captain of West Indies, but also one of the players, who was handed a one year contract recently.
"The captain is among the retained players and has an obligation to participate in the domestic competitions," CMC quoted WICB marketing and communications manager Carole Beckford as saying.
With the domestic cricket in West Indies taking shape from February 11 – the same time when the PSL will be on full song – the WICB does not have much option left, but to ask their players to play in the domestic circuit, which they consider to be more important as their fans also will love to see their major stars battling it out in the domestic competition as well.
"The Board has looked at its tournament schedule and has placed each tournament at a time that allows our international players to participate in other competitions overseas," CEO Michael Muirhead said.
"We however value our competitions and we think the fans would want to see our best players compete against each other."
However, Beckford did state that they have a certain window for their players to play in the IPL, which is the most successful T20 cricket league in the world.
"The WICB has created the window for its retained players to participate in the Indian Premier League, and the Caribbean Premier League," said Beckford.
