Mohammad Shahzad given one month notice to return home by Afghanistan Cricket Board

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has taken a tough stance against their star cricketer, Mohammad Shahzad, who has been living and playing in Peshawar, Pakistan.

According to cricket.com.au, Shahzad has been given a month to return home or risk losing his national team contract. The explosive batsman was already fined Rs. 2.5 lakh for playing in a local tournament in Peshawar without the permission of ACB.

The report added that the Afghanistan Cricket Board is currently ‘clamping down’ on all its players who are living overseas. Shahzad, who is among the top 10 batsmen in T20 Internationals at the moment, spent his early life in a refugee camp in Peshawar.

“(Players) are not allowed to travel to any country without permission. Those players who are living on foreign land are given a month to move back to Afghanistan with their families, otherwise the cricket board will terminate their contracts,” said ACB chairman Atif Mashal.

“Afghanistan Cricket Board has made a strict rule about player discipline and given them a one-month notice to adhere firmly with the policy. All players and employees should be based in Afghanistan and they are not allowed to play in any foreign country without ACB’s approval,” Mashal added.

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Speaking about the financial penalty on their star cricketer Shahzad, Mashal said, “He played in a club-level tournament without NOC (no-objection certificate) which is against the ACB code of conduct.”

Shahzad’s recent feat for his native country was in the final of the ICC 2019 World Cup Qualifiers final, in which he scored a fine 84 to power Afghanistan to a win over West Indies.

Afghanistan, who made their maiden appearance in 50-over World Cup tournament in 2015, will also be seen in the next year’s ICC World Cup in England.