Afghanistan cricketers withdraw from first players auction ahead of 11th edition of cricket tournament pakistan super league (PSL), amid tensions related to signing Rahmanullah Gurbaz and the broader diplomatic situation between the two countries.Players including Mujeeb ur Rehman, Seddiqullah Atal, Muhammad Nabi, Waqar Salamkheil and Fazal Haq Farooqi have signed up for the auction to be held in Lahore on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported.However, the players later withdrew their names after Peshawar Zalmi faced backlash over the outright signing of Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gulbaaz.PSL chief executive Salman Nasir said some Afghanistan players were part of the auction pool but were not selected by any team.“There were a few Afghan players in the auction but no franchises were awarded,” Nasir said, according to PTI.He added that tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan had an impact on the situation.“There was a serious backlash after Zalmi signed Gubaz and after Gubaz quit the PSL due to the breakdown in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. So other players also decided to do better to avoid the backlash,” he said.Relations between the two countries have been tense since the Pakistani military launched airstrikes in parts of Afghanistan late last year, saying it was targeting militants.Several Afghan players criticized the Pakistani government on social media and received responses from Pakistani accounts.Gubaz has previously played for three PSL seasons. He represented Multan Sultans in the 2021 tournament and Islamabad United in the 2022 and 2023 tournaments. In 15 games, he scored 318 runs at a strike rate of 159.79, including a half-century. He also signed up for the 2026 IPL auction but remains unsold.
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