Afif Hossain denied CPL no-objection certificate by BCB

Afif was all set to become the fifth Bangladesh cricketer to take part in CPL. © Getty

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has denied all-rounder Afif Hossain a no-objection certificate to participate in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League, instead opting to groom the 19-year-old in the Emerging team which is currently playing the corresponding team from Sri Lanka.

Afif was all set to become the fifth Bangladesh cricketer to take part in CPL that's scheduled to start from September 4. He had been picked by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

"We did not give him NOC as he is playing a series against the Sri Lanka Emerging team. The selectors are also considering him for the Twenty20 tri-nation and so we wanted to hold him back,'' Akram Khan, chairman of BCB's cricket operations committee, told Cricbuzz on Monday (Monday 26).

Afif, who played one T20I so far, though said he is not disappointed to stay back and prepare for his international recall, if and when that comes. ''I am not sure whether I am going to play or not because I did not get the NOC. I had applied a long time back but they did not say anything apart from saying that they will let me know. I don't have any problem because I am representing the country at the moment,'' Afif said.

Currently, Afif is preparing with the Emerging team to take part in four-day matches at Khulna. There is a tri-nation T20I series that follows the Afghanistan Test but BCB's decision to hold the youngster back may be more of a long-term grooming option.

''Definitely we have been planning about him. He is a very exciting player. High Performance (HP) and A teams are both working with him and we are building him up for the future. But it's not easy to confirm whether we have any plans regarding him in the upcoming series,'' national selector Habibul Bashar said.