LAHORE: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohsin Naqvi, announced on Monday that a zero-tolerance policy will be implemented for national team players who violate team discipline.
Naqvi chaired a three-hour-long meeting with the national men’s coaching staff, members of the men’s selection committee, and senior PCB officials at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten, red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie, PCB CEO Salman Naseer, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, Director of International Cricket Usman Wahla, members of the selection committee Mohammad Yousuf and Asad Shafiq, Bilal Afzal, Director High-Performance Centers Nadeem Khan and Director Domestic Cricket Abdullah Khurram Niazi participated in the meeting.
The chairman made some major decisions during the meeting to improve the team’s overall performance and one of them was to implement a zero-tolerance policy towards indiscipline.
Naqvi underscored the critical importance of discipline and team unity, emphasizing that these values are non-negotiable. He sternly announced that any player found violating these principles would face strict consequences.
These decisions were taken in the wake of recent reports of star bowler Shaheen Afridi’s misconduct during the recent tours.
The reports suggest that Afridi was engaged in a heated argument with batting coach Mohammad Yousuf during the team’s tour of England ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
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Sources asserted that the incident occurred during Pakistan’s net practice at Headingley when Shaheen engaged in a verbal exchange with the former batter.
The batting coach pointed towards Shaheen Afridi’s continuous no-balls in the nets, they added.
However, the pacer got furious and told Mohammad Yousuf to let him practice and not intervene in his bowling.
According to sources, Shaheen later apologised to the batting coach while the team management also reprimanded him for his misconduct.
The incident was later termed the heat of the moment and the chapter was closed after Shaheen Afridi apologised to Mohammad Yousuf.
It is pertinent to mention that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) axed former pacer Wahab Riaz from the position of senior team manager and as a member of the selection committee after Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024.
Former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq was also sacked from the PCB selection committee.
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