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Adelaide Strikers should have the services of Saeed Ajmal for their opening game © Associated Press
The PCB has granted Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal permission to play a few games at this season's Big Bash League (BBL), on the request of Cricket Australia. The trio will miss the last round of Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 tournament and will return in time for the conditioning camp in Lahore ahead of the India tour.
The PCB had earlier denied the players permission to play this BBL, to ensure their participation in the local tournament. Akmal is signed with Sydney Sixers and Ajmal with Adelaide Strikers for the season, while Afridi is set to play for Sydney Thunder, having transferred from Melbourne Renegades.
"We have reconsidered our decision, on the request of Cricket Australia, as the players had already signed their contract," a PCB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. "They will now leave at the tail end of [Pakistan's] T20 tournament, which runs from December 2 to 10, and will return when our conditioning camp starts."
As per the arrangement, the players will leave for the BBL at the end of the group stages of the Pakistan competition; these end on December 7, and the camp for which they must return begins on December 12. The BBL begins on December 7, and each of the three concerned franchises have one game scheduled between the 7th and 12th.