Word around the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is that the it will be more selective from now on in giving no objection certificates (NOC) to national team players and will do a "qualitative assessment" to ensure players don't compete in questionable leagues.

NOCs have been a tricky subject in Bangladesh cricket, with some players regularly getting those from the BCB while others having to pass up lucrative opportunities as the board does now allow them to compete.

Pacer Taskin Ahmed has been the biggest victim of the board's inconsistent NOC policy in the past.

Taskin was denied an NOC in 2023 for a stint with the Yorkshire County Cricket Club because the BCB wanted to keep him fresh ahead of the ODI World Cup.

Last year, Taskin and Shoriful Islam were denied NOCs for the IPL, however, pacer Mustafizur Rahman was allowed to compete in the same event.

Instead of the IPL, both Taskin and Shoriful played 50-over cricket for Abahani in the Dhaka Premier League in sweltering heat even as the T20 World Cup was on the horizon.

One source claimed that "the previous board president [Nazmul Hassan Papon] did not give NOC to Taskin to keep him for Abahani's matches."

During the board of directors meeting on Monday, the NOC issue was discussed and board members decided how they would go about the issue from now on.

"We will be more selective regarding NOCs moving forward. Rather than quantity, a qualitative assessment, as in how much the cricketer can gain in experience by playing in a certain league, will be prioritised," a BCB director, on conditions of anonymity, said.

The board is not in favour of giving NOCs without some assessment.

"We don't want to give out wholesale NOCs. For instance, T10 tournaments have been a stage of blatant corruption. The board will advise cricket operations on what to do about these tournaments," a source claimed.

Lanka T10 and Abu Dhabi T10 tournaments are part of those T10 tournaments that the BCB feels players can do without.

There are other tournaments such as Global T20 in Canada, for which the board may not give NOC to its best assets. In the past, Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das played in this tournament.

"We will obviously encourage players who get opportunities in county cricket. There are proper T20 tournaments like IPL or CPL, and if the players are free, the board will be positive about those," a BCB official said.

Previously, the board had decided to allow two NOCs per year for players but this time it has not made any decision on number of NOCs yet. Given the international calendar and the fact that not many Bangladeshi players get opportunities to play in top foreign leagues, it remains to be seen whether the scenario improves if they do get lucrative opportunities in future.