Lahore
Just three days before the Zimbabwe cricket team is scheduled to touch down in Islamabad for a three ODI and three T20I series, the Pakistan Cricket Board reiterated it has not paid any extra money to the visitors to undertake the FTP tour as was the case with them in 2015.
“The PCB paid Zimbabwe, a World XI and West Indies players between 2015 and 2018. We believe that was the right move then and was done to build confidence in the visiting players, the cricket boards and to help revive cricket in Pakistan.
“However, the PCB has moved on very quickly from this. It is now focusing on building, developing and strengthening trust, confidence and credibility in the eyes of the cricketing world,” PCB chief executive officer, Wasim Khan told the Associated Press of Pakistan in an exclusive interview here on Sunday
“The need to entice international players to Pakistan by offering handsome financial rewards is now firmly behind us. Instead, the PCB will invest these valuable funds into our women’s cricket, upgrading our infrastructure, improving domestic and international player contracts and developing world-class coach education programmes,” Wasim, a former first-class cricketer and a Warwick Business School graduate, said.
The PCB reportedly paid USD12,500 to each Zimbabwe player in 2015, while each member of the World XI received up to USD100,000 in 2017. The PCB also paid the West Indies side in access of USD250,000 in 2018 to play three T20Is in Karachi. In addition, the ICC paid an independent security firm US$1.2million over three years as part of its contribution for the resumption of cricket in Pakistan.
In 2014, the PCB had announced it will play India in six bilateral series from 2015 and 2023. However, it turned out to be a disaster as the PCB ended up paying around USD1.6 million as compensation to the BCCI after losing a battle in the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee, which was 60 per cent of the legal cost.
“The return of Test cricket after 10 years was underpinned by the visits of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh respectively, while additionally, an MCC team toured Lahore after 48 years.—APP
