Pakistani Star Players to Skip Sri Lanka Tour for BBL

Cricket Australia (CA) has eased concerns about the availability of Pakistani players for the ongoing 2025/26 Big Bash League (BBL 15), saying they are expected to stay for the entire tournament.

Questions arose after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a short T20I series in Sri Lanka in early January. This meant that top Pakistan players signed by BBL teams, including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Hasan Ali, could be called back midway through the season.

CA Chief Executive Todd Greenberg, however, said clear assurances have been given that this will not happen. Speaking to reporters during the third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, Greenberg said, “CA has been told that any Pakistan player signed for the BBL will be available for the full competition.”

Greenberg also confirmed that Australia’s planned T20I tour of Pakistan, ahead of the T20 World Cup, is proceeding, although the dates have not yet been announced. He said CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association have sent officials to Pakistan to carry out a security visit ahead of the tour.

“We’ve just sent a small group to Pakistan to do a pre-tour visit for the February T20Is,” Greenberg said. “We’ll speak to the players after the Ashes and explain how the security arrangements will work. I toured Pakistan in 2022, and it was a great experience.”

The three-match ODI series on that tour, which is part of the Future Tours Programme, will now be played in June after the PSL and IPL finish.

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