PCB slaps Naseem Shah with the largest fine in its history over Maryam Nawaz criticism

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has penalized Naseem Shah for violation of his central contract terms after the pacer’s now-deleted tweet about Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. A fine of PKR 20 million, understandably the largest in Pakistan’s history, has been imposed on Naseem, days after the board sent him a show-cause notice.

Disciplinary proceedings

Following the notice, a three-member disciplinary hearing was conducted on March 30.

The 23-year-old fast bowler has issued an ‘unconditional apology’ while also firing his social media adviser, who has been blacklisted by the PCB from working with other players under the board’s jurisdiction.

"Whilst noting the unconditional apology tendered, Naseem is found to have breached various clauses of his Central Contract and a fine of PKR 2 crores has been imposed," the PCB's statement read.

"It was noted that Naseem Shah's social media adviser has already been terminated by Naseem and shall be blacklisted by the PCB from associating with any player falling under the PCB's jurisdiction,” a PCB statement read.

What led to the fine?

Maryam Nawaz, who is the daughter of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was present at the opening game of the PSL.

Pictures of her from the opening ceremony posted by PCB’s official X (formerly Twitter) account were commented on by Naseem, saying, "Why is she treated like the Queen at Lord's?"

The post stayed up for around 10 minutes before it was deleted. Later, another tweet from Naseem’s account claimed that his account was hacked and subsequently recovered.

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