Pakistan Cricketers Considering Cricket World Cup 2023 Promotions Boycott Amid Contract Row: Report

Pakistan cricket team players are considering a boycott of sponsor logos and Cricket World Cup 2023 promotional commitments due to ongoing issues with their central contracts, according to a report on Cricket Pakistan. Earlier reports suggested that captain Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Afridi, were offered a monthly retainership fee PKR 4.5 million each (approx. INR 13.22 lakh). Earlier, the Test cricketers received 1.1 million rupees per month (approx. INR 3.2 lakh), and white-ball players were getting 0.95 million rupees (approx. INR 2.8 lakh). However, the central contracts have not been signed yet and that can result in Pakistan cricketers taking some drastic decisions.

The report claimed that the Pakistan cricketers have not received payments in terms of their monthly retainers for the past four months. That has resulted in some financial challenges for younger players.

"We are willing to represent Pakistan for free, but our question is why we should promote sponsors' logos that are affiliated with the board. Similarly, we may decline to participate in promotional activities and other events. During the World Cup, we won't engage in ICC's commercial promotions and activities either," a Pakistan cricket team player told Cricket Pakistan on conditions of anonymity.

According to the Cricket Pakistan report, the cricketers have asked for a share of the revenue that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will receive from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and sponsors. The figure is estimated to be somewhere around 9.8 billion rupees not including the sponsorship as well as the revenue received from bilateral series.