According to reports, the players of the Pakistan women’s cricket team have not received their salaries for the past four months. This development comes as the Women in Green prepare to kick off their 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup campaign on Thursday, October 3, in Sharjah.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had offered contracts to 20 players under a 23-month agreement running from August 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025. The contracts were supposed to be reviewed after the first 12 months. However, due to administrative delays, the players have not been paid since June 2024, and there has been no formal update from the board.
A PCB official told Cricbuzz:
“It is a work in progress. As soon as the lists are finalized and approved, contracts will be offered with effect from 1 July 2024.”
The delay is reportedly due to a lack of time to finalize the contract situation. The men’s team is also facing similar salary issues, having gone unpaid for the last four months as well.
Pakistan’s warm-up struggles ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup
The Pakistan women’s team, led by Fatima Sana, has had a rocky start leading up to the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup. They lost both their warm-up matches against lower-ranked teams, which could negatively impact their confidence heading into the tournament.
In the first match, Pakistan posted 132 runs against Scotland, but the opposition chased down the target in 18 overs. In their second warm-up game, they were bowled out for 117 by Bangladesh, who won by 23 runs. Omaima Sohail stood out with 63 runs, while Sadia Iqbal picked up two wickets.
Historically, Pakistan has struggled to make it past the group stages in all eight editions of the Women’s T20 World Cup. It remains to be seen whether they can improve their performance in the 2024 edition despite these setbacks.