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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly penalised each squad member Rs 16 lakh after the team’s early 2026 T20 World Cup exit.

Pakistan has been knocked out of the tournament after failing to qualify for semi finals. The decision from the chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, shows PCB’s way of handling the international failures.

A source within the board indicated that the top official has run out of patience following a string of underwhelming performances in major ICC events.

According to PCB’s logic, the players are entitled to financial rewards and bonuses for victories while, consequences will be there for failing basic tournament objectives.

However, Pakistan has improved a lot since the 2024 edition of the tournament where they failed to qualify for super 8s.

Pakistan secured three wins out of four games in the group stages of the tournament. In the super 8s stages, a rain affected game against New Zealand and a decisive loss against England ended their semi finals hopes. Their win against Sri Lanka did not have any impact as Blackcaps had a better runrate.

Posting a mammoth run target, Pakistan needing to restrict the Lankans for 147 runs to be alive in the semi finals chances, conceded over 200 runs, and secured a narrow five run win which clinched their chances.

This has put Pakistan captain Salman Agha and star Babar Azam under scrutiny. Salman Agha admitted conferences that the middle order never performed and confirmed that individual performance saved Pakistan on crucial games.

Pakistan’s centrally contracted cricketers now earn millions annually through monthly retainers and ICC revenue. Despite improved financial security including the PSL auction, officials are concerned over not improved performance in the on-field.

However, Pakistan’s opening batter Sahibzada Farhan has caught the spotlight after shattering Virat Kohli’s record for most runs in single T20 World Cup edition by amassing 383 runs at an average of 76.60, which included two centuries.

Saqlain Mushtaq who has coached Pakistan in the past, has also faced lot of criticism for trying to defend his son-in-law Shadab Khan’s performance by putting the blame on head coach Mike Hesson.

Former captain Moin Khan said that Pakistan are not able to defeat higher-ranked teams, it would never an ICC tournament.

“You can’t win a major tournament unless you have the capability to beat top teams. Unfortunately, we have made too many mistakes in selection and on the field. More importantly, our main players didn’t fire in the World Cup,” he lamented.