PCB sack Waqar Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Saqlain Mushtaq and Sarfaraz Ahmed as mentors

Waqar Younis. Pic/AFP

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has terminated the contracts of the country's top-notch cricketers, Waqar Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Saqlain Mushtaq and Sarfaraz Ahmed. The veterans were featured as mentors for domestic teams.

The decision to sack them from their contracts comes following poor results and an increasing financial crisis on the cricket board.

Earlier, in August, PCK assigned these cricketers to mentor the regional and departmental sides to improve the environment in domestic cricket for both men and women.

Later, PCB came to the conclusion about the failure of former cricketers in yielding results. The national team's failure on the global stage is often considered the result of a poor domestic ecosystem.

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It is learnt that the PCB was paying each mentor nearly five million Pakistani rupees, which is approximately USD 18,000.

According to www.telecomasia.net, a source close to PCB said, "Chairman has conveyed to the mentors that their services were no longer required as the desired results were not achieved".

"The huge amount of money also has its implications, with fears that the International Cricket Council's annual funding to the PCB may be reduced. There is concern that television rights for Pakistan's international matches might fetch lower bids in the upcoming cycle from 2028 to 2032, which further limits the board's financial bandwidth," added the source.

According to the reports, the financial conditions of the board have led PCB to terminate the contracts of many high-cost roles. These five stars were assigned the task of grooming the talent at the domestic level, but the veterans failed to reflect the success they achieved during their stint as players.

The PCB, however, had permitted all five mentors to continue their media assignments - decisions that drew further scrutiny, particularly when the mentors earned significant additional income from television contracts. Critics argued that such flexibility blurred lines of accountability and undermined the effectiveness of the mentorship programme.

However, two of the five sacked mentors, Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfaraz Ahmed, might continue working with the PCB, but in different roles. As of now, Misbah is likely in talks of being appointed as the head coach of the red-ball cricket team. Whereas, Sarfaraz, too, may be reassigned in a different capacity.

(With IANS Inputs)