The PCB received intense scrutiny for enforcing a pay downgrade
As Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recovers from the humiliation of losing its power to host the Champions Trophy 2025 and their team’s group-stage exit on home turf, there was more drama just around the corner.
This time it was the domestic National T20 Championship and the match fee to the players. PCB had earlier enforced a massive pay cut reducing the match fee to Rs 10,000 for players and Rs 5,000 for reserve players.
The move saw the Board come under intense scrutiny and forced chairman Mohsin Naqvi to review.
As a result of the backlash, PCB increased the match fees of players to Rs 40,000 and Rs 20,000 for reserves.
The Pakistan men’s team, led by keeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan, is under heavy scrutiny after losing the Champions Trophy opening match to New Zealand followed by a loss to arch-rivals India in the second match. They exited the tournament without a single win to their name as their final group game against Bangladesh was abandoned without a single ball being bowled.
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Their domestic cricket is under the microscope after the PCB had scrapped off the National Under 19 Championship one day into the tournament following complaints of age-fudging and other issues.
According to PTI, there have been no cost-cutting measures applied to other aspects of Pakistan’s domestic cricket like termination of contracts or lowering travel and accommodation expenditure.
The report said that PCB sources claimed that the expense cuts were caused by the increase in number of domestic cricket tournaments this season which were not part of the planned budget.
The National T20 Cup begins on Friday with 39 matches to be played in Faisalabad, Lahore and Multan. It will not see the majority of the national team stars play in it because of the tour of New Zealand from March 16 to April 5. Pakistan will play five T20Is and three ODIs against the Black Caps.
