Mohammad Amir has registered as a UK national for the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) draft, scheduled to be held on Tuesday (November 3). Vijay Shankar and KS Bharat, both former India internationals who have retired from all forms of cricket, including the IPL, have also registered for the draft to be held in Dubai. The league is likely to be held later this year.

Amir (34), a former Pakistan international who currently lives in England and has acquired British citizenship earlier, has been formally mentioned as a UK national, with Pakistan listed as his country of residence. He has been placed in the Platinum category of the draft.

It now appears likely, as is being widely anticipated, that Amir will also register for the IPL auction from England. There is precedence to this. Despite the ban on Pakistan nationals, former international Azhar Mahmood featured in the IPL between 2012 and 2015 for Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders on a British passport. Whether any franchise shows interest in Amir will be known only in Goa on December 16, when the IPL mini-auction is scheduled.

A veteran of 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 62 T20Is, Amir last played for Pakistan in June 2024, against Ireland in Lauderhill, Florida, during the ICC T20 World Cup.

The immediate advantage of enrolling as a UK national is that Amir may not require a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which is not guaranteed for his former Pakistan teammates. Given the current diplomatic tensions between the two neighbours on either side of the Durand Line, there is a question mark over whether the PCB will permit its players to participate in the APL.

Over 30 players, including Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Hasan Ali, Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim, among others, feature in the register. A PCB spokesperson appeared to rule out the possibility of NOCs being issued to its players for the APL. “I don’t think so,” a PCB spokesman told Cricbuzz. The auction register published by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), formally states that the availability of Pakistan players is subject to receiving NOCs from the PCB.

Vijay, Ayaan Khan and Murugan Ashwin are registered as Indians, while Bharat is listed as an Indian player resident in the UAE. Vijay, Murugan and Bharat have been placed in the Gold category of the draft, for which 462 players have been shortlisted.

The players of Indian origin in the draft include Unmukt Chand (US), Rahul Chopra (UAE), Akshdeep Nath (UAE), Alishan Sharafu (UAE), Aryan Afzal Khan (UAE), Ayaan Khan (Oman), Dhruv Parashar (UAE), Vraj Patel (Kenya) and Yasin Patel (Kuwait).