The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed Rs5 million on each member of the squad for the T20 World Cup following their “underwhelming” campaign. ESPNcricinfo reported on Monday.
According to the report, the fines were not for disciplinary reasons, but specifically for what the cricket board deemed “poor performance” at the event.
“They were imposed immediately following Pakistan’s match against India in the group stages, where a meek showing resulted in a 61-run defeat,” it stated.
The report further said that the players were told that the fines might have been waived off, if Pakistan had reached the tournament’s semi-finals.
“The PCB has come down hard on players in the past, although sanctions have generally been framed as disciplinary,” the report said.
“ESPNcricinfo has learned there were no disciplinary issues within the team throughout the tournament, and the fines have been levied specifically for the quality of their on-field performances,” it added.
“That makes the sanctions handed out by the PCB particularly rare, and potentially unprecedented,” it added.
Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament on Saturday despite a narrow five-run win over Sri Lanka in the Super Eight clash in Kandy. Prior to the game, the Green Shirts had also failed to defeat any major team in the tournament.
Following the team’s exit, skipper Salman Agha had admitted that the squad had “underperformed” but had held back from making an “emotional” decision on his future as captain.
“We have underperformed in the whole tournament. We are out of the semis due to our failure in decision-making in pressure situations,” he told reporters.
