Pak players set to earn big despite T20 WC flop
Pakistan team’s T20 ranking has dropped to 7th, a significant decline from their previously held top position. PHOTO: AFP
Despite being eliminated in the first round of the T20 World Cup, the Pakistan cricket team stands to benefit significantly financially. Each player will receive Rs. 1,674,336 solely as match fees, with an additional daily allowance exceeding Rs. 550,000 per person.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to distribute $247,500, approximately Rs. 70 million, to the team for their participation. This amount will be shared among the 15 players and the management, resulting in over Rs. 4.3 million per person.
Furthermore, for securing victories in two matches, the team will receive an additional $62,308, around Rs. 17.5 million, which translates to about Rs. 1.1 million per player. In total, each player will receive more than Rs. 7.6 million, excluding additional earnings from sponsor logos.
The lucrative financial outcome for the players comes after they successfully negotiated favorable terms in their central contracts last year. They secured a 3% share of the ICC earnings for 2023-24, adding Rs. 1.53 million to their monthly earnings. The match fees under the new contract also saw significant increases: Rs. 1,257,795 for a Test match, Rs. 644,620 for an ODI, and Rs. 418,584 for a T20 match.
The highest tier, Category A, includes players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who now receive Rs. 4.5 million monthly, a remarkable 202% increase.
When combined with the ICC share, their monthly earnings total Rs. 6.03 million. Players in Category B, such as Sarfaraz Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, and Shadab Khan, saw a 144% increase in their salaries to Rs. 3 million per month, plus an ICC share of Rs. 1.147 million, bringing their monthly total to Rs. 4.147 million.
Category C players, including Imad Wasim, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, and Nauman Ali, now earn Rs. 1 million monthly, with an added ICC share of Rs. 765,000, amounting to Rs. 1.765 million per month.
Meanwhile, players in Category D, such as Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ehsanullah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan, Arshad Iqbal, Aamer Jamal, and Tayyab Tahir, experienced a 127% salary increase, now earning Rs. 750,000 monthly with an additional ICC share of Rs. 382,500, totaling Rs. 1.132 million per month.
Under the contract for the upcoming years of 2024-25 and 2025-26, the ICC share is set to increase to Rs. 2.07 million for Category A, Rs. 1.552 million for Category B, Rs. 1.035 million for Category C, and Rs. 517,500 for Category D per month. This will elevate the monthly earnings for the four categories to Rs. 6.57 million (Category A), Rs. 4.552 million (Category B), Rs. 2.035 million (Category C), and Rs. 1.267 million (Category D).
However, the current management of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is contemplating discontinuing the ICC share for players, and this practice is under review. The PCB allocated Rs. 528 million for central contracts in the last year’s budget, which included an additional Rs. 220.3 million from the ICC’s 3% share, amounting to a total of Rs. 748.3 million.
Despite the financial gains, the performance of the Pakistan cricket team has been very ordinary. They failed to reach the semi-finals in the ODI World Cup held in India last year, losing five out of nine matches against stronger teams like India, Australia, Afghanistan, South Africa, and England.
They managed victories only against the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and New Zealand. In the Test series against Australia in December 2023 and January this year, Pakistan, under Shan Masood’s captaincy, faced severe losses in all three matches.
On their January tour of New Zealand, the team, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, lost the T20 series 1-4. Babar Azam’s return as captain for the home T20 series against a weakened New Zealand team in April resulted in a 2-2 series tie, with one match washed out.
The team managed to secure a 2-1 T20 series victory against Ireland in May, but later that month, two matches in England were washed out, and they lost the other two.