The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday set the record straight, formally denying reports of fining players for their early elimination from the T20 World Cup. Ever since the ouster of the Green Shirts from the tournament, several reports have stated that the Pakistan board decided to impose fines on players for the debacle in the 20-team tournament, in which Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals for the fourth time in a row at an ICC event. According to several reports, every player in the 15-member squad was fined PKR 5 million.
However, several days after the rumours first started doing the rounds, PCB spokesperson Amir Mir confirmed to Hindustan Times Digital that no such action had ever been taken and that there was no chance of such an action, as there is no precedent or provision for the same.
“No such decision was ever taken by the PCB. It was all social media gossip. There is no such precedence or provision,” he confirmed on Saturday afternoon.
Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals depended on a heavy victory over Sri Lanka in the final Group 2 match of the Super 8s stage. Pakistan needed to win the contest by at least 65 runs to make it to the last four. England threw the Green Shirts a lifeline after the Three Lions got the better of New Zealand.
The Salman Ali Agha-led side started the game off well, posting 212 runs on the board, owing to a century by Sahibzada Farhan. However, Dasun Shanaka, the Sri Lanka captain, played a remarkable knock, bringing the co-hosts within touching distance of walking away with a win. In the end, Sri Lanka fell five runs short, but Pakistan’s narrow win did nothing as they crashed out.
What did the reports claim?
Earlier, several reports claimed that the PCB decided to fine the players immediately after Pakistan’s loss to India in the group stages of the T20 World Cup at the R Premadasa Stadium, and that the fine would have been withdrawn had the 2009 champions reached the semi-finals.
When these reports went viral on social media, several fans and former players criticised the PCB for penalising players. Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan had urged the players to take a stand against the board if the reports are true, saying no one deserves to be penalised for trying to give their best for the national team. A similar stance was echoed around the world from the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton and more.
Speaking of Pakistan’s T20 World Cup campaign, for most of the tournament, head coach Mike Hesson bore the brunt of the criticism for fielding the wrong combination in theXI. Even skipper Agha was lambasted for lacklustre captaincy and not utilising Usman Tariq as the game-changer.
Sahibzada Farhan was the only saving grace for the team in the tournament, finishing as the highest run-scorer. He also broke the record of Virat Kohli for scoring the most runs in a single edition of the T20 World Cup. Farhan made the record his own in the team’s Super 8s’ match against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
For the participation in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan received USD 522,692 from the ICC’s final distribution of the tournament’s USD 11.25 million players’ prize money.
