For players competing in the forthcoming National T20 Cup, the PCB has drastically reduced match fees. Participants will receive match costs of PKR 10,000 (about $35 USD), which is a 75% decrease from the last tournament’s match fees of PKR 40,000.
Given the large expenditures at the PCB under current chairman Mohsin Naqvi, the match fee reduction seems more significant.
He stated immediately after taking office as chair last year that the funds in PCB’s coffers were not intended to be “locked away” and would instead be used to support Pakistan cricket and its players.
Since then, the PCB has made costly but essential stadium improvements, hired foreign coaches on high-paying contracts, and fired five mentors who were paid PKR 5 million a month. Additionally, it held a domestic one-day event with ten times the prize money for competitors.
Financial concerns were not the reason for the National T20 Cup’s decision to reduce match payments, a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo.
Rather, the PCB believes that more domestic tournaments, such as the Champions T20 Cup, which was held in December 2024 (albeit with just five teams), have increased the players’ earning prospects throughout the season.
Both a 50-over and a first-class event follow the Champions Cup structure, which consists of five top teams of players. The board feels that the decline in match fees did not translate into a decrease in total revenue because certain players are also paid a monthly salary by a department that hires them for competitions like the President’s Trophy.
On March 14, 39 matches from three cities—Faisalabad, Lahore, and Multan—will begin the National T20 Cup. The final is scheduled for March 27 in Faisalabad.
With the national team having departed for New Zealand for three ODIs and five T20Is, a number of top Pakistani cricket players will not be able to play.
