Rashid Latif slams PCB for 'plotting against players' amid salary cuts and NOC controversies

Former Pakistan cricketer and coach Rashid Latif lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the team management for “plotting against players and saving themselves by covering potential future issues” amid reports of a cut in the players’ salaries.

It is being said that the PCB is planning to reduce the salary of the Pakistan cricket team players, with players' salaries getting reduced to 40 lakh PKR from 60 lahk PKR, which could lead them to refuse to sign the central contracts for the next season.

Rashid Latif blasts PCB over workload management and salary reductions

There is also commotion about the NOCs with Pakistan Cricket, as the PCB already denied the NOC to Naseem Shah to play in The Hundred 2024. Now, they are keen on not allowing senior players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Afridi to play in Canada’s T20 league to manage players’ workload and fitness and keep them fresh for national assignments.

Reacting to the reports, Latif lashed out at the PCB for running an agenda to hide their failure, questioning their decision to sit out Naseem during the T20 World Cup 2024 while referring to workload management as cricket player management.

The former wicketkeeper-batter said that the PCB has been playing the game with the player behind the workload management cry. He also said that earlier there was no workload management and players were playing on 400-run pitches, as he slammed the PCB for taking unfair advantage of it.

He lashed out at the PCB for not allowing players to get the exposure of the overseas leagues, citing Shah’s example to highlight that they are ruining a player by not playing him for the national side or either allowing them to be involved in the game in the foreign leagues.

Rashid Latif predicts PCB will face players' wrath soon

Rashid Latif told Dr. Nauman Niaz on his YouTube channel: “There are not many games for Pakistan in this window, so it will be interesting to see how many bowlers play against Bangladesh, as the PCB might have to manage Shaheen Afridi’s workload as well. So, it is a little difficult for PCB to keep the players with such treatment.

Apart from this, there are some rifts among the players as well. In the future, this decision will have to pay off a little. If the boys have made a mistake, they will have to pay. The board will have to do it as well. It's not that easy to stop the boys.”

Meanwhile, Rashid Latif has raised concerns about the PCB’s approach to workload management, particularly pointing out the failure of the medical panel. He pointed out the lack of trust in the panel due to its poor track record, which has led players to seek treatment abroad, and PCB covering up the problem behind the so-called workload management.

Rashid Latif calls PCB selfish

Furthermore, Latif questioned how the medical panel can manage the workload of the Pakistani players when they struggle to diagnose and treat injuries effectively. He pointed out that the panel meets players infrequently, and players usually go elsewhere for rehabilitation after injuries.

Latif launched another attack on PCB by saying, “They are plotting against players, saving themselves by covering potential future issues, which is very selfish of them. Agenda driven.”

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