Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins has refuted claims that he reached out to Babar Azam with the intention of persuading him to participate in the Sheffield Shield and join one of the Melbourne teams in the Big Bash League (BBL).
There have been reports in local media that the former Pakistan captain had been approached by Cricket Victoria in Australia, where he was allegedly presented with a contract for a prolonged commitment to play domestic cricket and feature in the BBL.
According to the reports, Babar expressed interest in the offer and indicated his willingness to be available in accordance with Pakistan's international schedule. It was also mentioned that he was given the opportunity to open for either the Melbourne Stars or the Melbourne Renegades, both teams managed by Cricket Victoria.
The CEO of Cricket Victoria Nick Cummins has now denied the story, saying there was “absolutely zero truth” to them. Commenting on a post that mentioned Victoria’s supposed interest in Babar on X (formerly Twitter), Cummins wrote, “Fake news” and mentioned in another post. that Babar would have to go through the draft to play in the BBL and he could be picked by any of club, as a result.
“Wait until they find out about Kohli signing with the Stars,” Cummins joked in a later post.
The initial report of Babar being presented with a contract emerged on Thursday, indicating that Cricket Victoria was considering a prolonged agreement with the former captain of Pakistan.
Babar has not participated in the Sheffield Shield before. He represented Somerset in county cricket from 2019 to 2020.