(AP Photo)
Pakistan’s disappointing T20 World Cup outing in the USA is poised to instigate significant changes within the national cricket board. Criticism has surfaced regarding players’ decisions to bring their families along and participate in paid promotional events during the tournament. A trusted insider from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed that Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is furious with the lackluster performance of certain senior officials, whom he holds accountable for the prevailing lack of discipline within the team. This situation is expected to prompt the formulation of a formal code of conduct for players.
“You can expect the PCB to lose senior management level officials and also enforce some strict policies for the players in future,” the source said.
He indicated that as part of its efforts to restore discipline, the PCB is likely to announce a policy prohibiting players from bringing their families to ICC and other significant events in the near future.
“The fact that so many players not only took their wives and children to the World Cup even had their parents, brothers etc staying in the team hotel has left the chairman unhappy,” the source said.
He mentioned that investigations revealed that certain senior officials within the board were responsible for authorizing players to bring their entire families along on the tour.
“Some of these officials are not professionals but fans of the players and have given them lot of concessions which eventually led to the World Cup debacle,” the source said.
He mentioned that the PCB chairman has now requested a performance evaluation report from all senior management officials due to dissatisfaction with their handling of preparations for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan early next year.
According to a report in the ‘Jang’ newspaper, some Pakistani players accepted appearance fees as low as USD 2500 each to attend a meet-and-greet event in Dallas. The report also highlighted that another event titled ‘A Night with Stars’ was canceled due to disputes over payments to captain Babar Azam and other players.
These revelations will be scrutinized during the assessment following Pakistan’s exit in the league stage, which included losses to tournament newcomers USA and traditional rivals India.
Despite four changes in PCB chairmanship since December 2022, none of the senior management officials have been reassigned or dismissed.
“It is now becoming clear that if the players are today an indisciplined and careless lot, the blame for this falls on some of the senior management officials who have been patronising them in many ways including in the finalisation of the central contracts last year,” the source added.
Further complicating matters is speculation suggesting internal division within the team, particularly concerning a reported conflict over captaincy between Babar Azam and lead fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.
