Mumbai, Oct 26 (IANS) Six Pakistan players will feature in the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia, with Shadab Khan teaming up with India’s now-retired spin wizard Ravichandran Ashwin, the first such occasion in any franchise league, a report has claimed.

Allrounder Shadab Khan will line up for Sydney Thunder, the franchise for which Ashwin will also turn up. This will allow the young Pakistan star to share the dressing room with the Indian spin wizard, Telecom Asia Sport said in a report.

Star batter Babar Azam will be featuring for Sydney Sixers, Shaheen Shah Afridi for Brisbane Heat, Hasan Ali for Adelaide Strikers, Haris Rauf for Melbourne Stars and Mohammad Rizwan for Melbourne Renegades.

The archrivals have not played bilateral cricket over political tension since 2012 and only feature in multi-national events like the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup. Recently, the Indian male and female players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in the Men’s Asia Cup T20 and women’s World Cup clashes, respectively.

Pakistan players are also barred from the Indian Premier League (IPL) since the inaugural edition in 2008. Ashwin made his IPL debut a year later in 2009, so he never played with or against any Pakistani player in the League.

In the international competitions, Ashwin only played one ODI against Pakistan, which was the final of the Champions Trophy at The Oval, London in 2017. Babar, Hasan and Shadab were in the Pakistan lineup in that final, which Pakistan won to lift the trophy.

The only T20I in which Ashwin competed against these current players was the game at Melbourne in the 2022 World Cup. Babar, Shadab and Rizwan were on the Pakistan side. Ashwin hit the winning run in a four-wicket victory that will remain memorable for Virat Kohli’s iconic knock of 82 not out in 53 balls.

The Ashwin-Pakistan players meeting was put on hold by the Pakistan Cricket Board in September when the board suspended NOC for all Pakistan players to stop them from joining T20 leagues. However, on Saturday, Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg confirmed the Pakistan players would arrive for the BBL as scheduled.

It will now be interesting to see whether Ashwin will shake hands with the Pakistan players in the Big Bash League.

The recent dip in relations came after the armed conflict during Operation Sindoor following the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives.

In retaliation, BCCI did not allow the team to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, while the players decided not to shake hands with Pakistan cricketers during the Asia Cup T20 in the UAE. The Indian players also refused to receive the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council chairman, who is also Pakistan Cricket Board president and the Interior Minister of Pakistan.

–IANS

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