“I didn’t believe it at first. But it’s all out there on Cricinfo( citing ESPNCricinfo), but it’s amazing!!” With these words celebrated Australian cricketer noted the rather dramatic, if also, hard-to-believe recent cricketing occurrence in that part of the world known as Pakistan. So what was the famous gritty left hander referring to?

Well, as it turns out, Pakistan cricket board aka the famous PCB decided to actually fine some players for their underwhelming performance as seen recently when their campaign came to a closure in the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup.

“Sorry, am laughing but can’t believe this,” Usman Khawaja would go on and offer his humble two cents on a happening that really is in poor state and makes you feel something for the gutted Pakistan cricketers.

“In what high performance team, let alone cricket, are players getting fined for underwhelming performances,” Khawaja wondered as he went along registering his state of disbelief at what PCB did most recently (as seen in his video post on microblogging platform X)!  

The decision by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to fine players following their disappointing campaign at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup has sparked a wider debate about accountability and management in international cricket. After Pakistan’s underwhelming performances in the tournament, the board reportedly imposed financial penalties on several players, arguing that poor results and lack of discipline demanded consequences. However, the move has been criticised by Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja, who questioned whether punishing players financially is the right way to address deeper structural issues within a team.

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Having said that, you ought to think that while underwhelming performances surely hurt and upset a team’s chances at progressing towards the decisive stage of premier ICC events such as the ongoing T20 World Cup, such strict reprimands on the part of a proper and noted cricketing board perhaps do more bad than good. How could it ever have motivated the players in the Pakistan establishment, when despite trying to perform and not succeeding well enough, they were further subjected to financial ramifications (basis on field performances) by their own board.

Shouldn’t the PCB have instead focused at motivating the team and taking a real stock of their state of cricket?