The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced the retirements of fast bowler Ehsan Adil and all-rounder Hammad Azam.
The Pakistani duo will feature in the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket and have joined MI New York, which is owned by the owner of the famous IPL franchise, 'Mumbai Indians'.
Hammad, who started his cricketing career in Pakistan, shifted to the USA due to the lack of opportunities in his home country. While expressing his jubilation on getting the opportunity for Major League Cricket, he said, "This is the biggest franchise in the world, I can say, and I am really happy to be a part of it. I was quiet but feeling happy now. We have been looking towards this franchise for the last 12 to 13 years. It was the first franchise when I started playing back then, so of course, all the boys and I are quite excited."
Major League Cricket is an upcoming professional T20 cricket league in the United States. This league is sanctioned by USA Cricket and shall start on July 13, 2023, with six teams participating in major cities under the banner of a single-entity model.
Ehsan made his Test debut in February 2013 in Centurion against South Africa and played two more Tests and six One-Day Internationals till 2015, taking five and four wickets in the two formats, respectively. Before breaking into the national men’s side, Ehsan was a member of Pakistan’s side in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in Australia in 2012. He played 67 first-class (245 wickets), 67 List A (98 wickets) and 68 T20 (86 wickets) matches from March 2012 till October 2021.
All-rounder, Hammad Azam, featured for Pakistan in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand. He played 11 ODIs (80 runs and two wickets) and five T20Is (34 runs) from 2011 till 2015. His domestic career spanned from December 2008 till June 2021 in which he played 107 first-class (4,953 runs and 186), 114 List A (2,362 runs and 91) and 98 T20s (1,361 runs and 75) wickets.
The PCB congratulated the two for their services to cricket and wished them well for the future endeavours.