Mohammad Rizwan breaks silence on reports of Pakistan players being fined for T20 World Cup early ouster

According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, the PCB penalised all squad members, imposing a fine of PKR 5 million (approx. USD 18,000). This was imposed immediately following Pakistan's poor performance against India in the group stage, where the Salman Ali Agha-led side went down by 61 runs at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

However, the PCB had told the players that the fines might be waived if they reached the semi-finals. However, that wasn't to be after the side failed to defeat Sri Lanka by 65 runs in Pallekele. The Cricinfo report confirmed that the fines were introduced solely due to poor field performances.

Earlier, Rizwan had also defended Pakistan's early exit from the T20 World Cup, saying the side had just crashed out on net run rate and that it was not a case of the Green Shirts giving a poor performance.

“Pakistan went out of the event on net run rate, not because of losing outright,” he said.

‘Don’t watch India's matches'

When asked to comment on India's seven-run win over England in the T20 World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium, Rizwan said he doesn't watch matches featuring the Men in Blue.

“Sorry, I don't watch their matches,” said Rizwan.

The Pakistan selectors recently dropped Babar Azam and Saim Ayub from the ODI squad for the series against Bangladesh. The decision came in the wake of poor performances in the World Cup, where both players had below-par showings.

The Pakistan squad landed in Dhaka on Sunday morning for the upcoming ODI series, which is slated to begin on Wednesday, March 11.

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