PCB bosses mull ‘major surgery’ in late night huddle mharis

• PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, board officials hold late-night meeting. 
• Players with poor performance to face demotion in central contracts.
• Some cricketers even expected to “lose” their packages altogether.
  

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to review central contracts after the team’s embarrassing early exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, sources told Geo News on Saturday.

Following the late-night consultations headed by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and the board officials, as per the sources, players with poor performances are expected to be demoted with regards to their central contracts in the first phase.

Meanwhile, several others are likely to lose their central contracts altogether, the sources added.

The development comes as the Green Shirts have been eliminated from the ongoing mega event and failed to even proceed to the Super Eight stage of the tournament after losing their two initial matches against the new entrant United States and arch-rivals India.

With the match between the US and Ireland abandoned due to rain on Friday, the co-hosts secured one point, consequently ending Pakistan’s hopes of proceeding in the tournament.

The national team’s last league game against Ireland will only be a formality after which the squad will return home.

This is the third time in the tournament’s history that Pakistan has been eliminated in the league round.

Earlier, Geo News had reported that the board is likely to make significant changes in the team with players including Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, and Usman Khan expected to face difficulties in maintaining their place in the national side’s future.

The sources also said that a group of three players in the Pakistan team were blackmailing PCB officials at the behest of the players’ manager, who represents all three players and had pressurised the board to secure a significant remuneration increase in the players’ central contracts.

PCB chief, earlier this week, also hinted at major changes in the national team and said: “It seemed that a minor surgery would work but after this bad performance, I’m now sure that a major surgery is required. The nation will soon see a major overhaul.”

It is to be noted that the players had pressurised former PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf to secure a three-year central contract last year, which came into effect from July 1, provisioning increased remunerations.

Since then, the Men in Green have appeared and failed in multiple international tournaments including the Asia Cup 2023, ODI World Cup 2023 and the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

Furthermore, the national side also failed in the tours of Australia and New Zealand.

However, the board will now decide on the prospects of keeping the current remuneration packages of the players.