Pakistan players to honour full BBL commitments
As the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025–26 season approaches, concerns had grown over the potential mid-season withdrawal of several high-profile Pakistan cricketers due to international obligations. However, Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed that players such as Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Hasan Ali will remain available for the entire tournament.
Speaking to reporters on the morning of the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval, CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said, “We’ve been told that if they’ve been signed by the BBL, they’ll play the whole BBL.”
This assurance comes despite Pakistan’s scheduled T20I tour of Sri Lanka in January, which had initially cast uncertainty over player availability. Greenberg’s statement clarifies that BBL commitments will take precedence for the players contracted to the league.
Australia prepares for Pakistan tour amid active coordination
Beyond the BBL, Cricket Australia is actively advancing its own international plans. Australia is set to tour Pakistan for a T20I series before the 2026 T20 World Cup, although the final schedule is yet to be confirmed. Greenberg confirmed that early groundwork is already underway.
“We’ve just sent a couple of people to Pakistan to do a pre-tour for the T20I games in February,” he said. He added that CA would soon engage with players to brief them on logistical and security aspects of the trip. “We’re going to have some conversations with the players after the [Ashes] series and explain to them how that will work with security. But I went there with them in 2022 and it was an amazing experience.”
The ODI leg of Australia’s tour is being pushed to June, allowing it to follow the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL), aligning with the broader Future Tours Programme. This timing also coincides with scheduled ODIs and T20Is in Bangladesh during the same month.
