Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Naseem Shah was reportedly facing a two-year ban, but a last-minute decision to impose only a fine saved his career, according to former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali. The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday imposed a PKR 20 million (USD 72,000) fine on the 23-year-old for a controversial social media post criticising Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s presence at the PSL opening game during an ongoing Middle East conflict. Maryam is the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and niece of incumbent PM Shehbaz Sharif.“Why is she being treated like the Queen at Lords?” Naseem had posted in reference to Maryam, before deleting the post.Basit said it was due to PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi that Naseem’s career was saved. He claimed Naqvi advised against imposing a ban on the pacer, who has played 20 Tests, 34 ODIs and 37 T20Is so far.“Naseem Shah bahut lucky hain. Jo andar ki khabar hai, main bata deta hoon — un par 2 saal ki pabandi lagne wali thi. Jo aap committee ki baat kar rahe hain, unhone yeh keh diya tha. Iska credit Mohsin Naqvi ko jata hai. Unhone mana kar diya ki nahi, pabandi na lagayein, aap fine kar dein — uska future hai. Paise woh de sakta hai, lekin kisi ke career se nahi khelna chahiye. Unhone ban rok di. [Naseem Shah is very lucky. Let me tell you the inside story — he was facing a two-year ban. The committee you are referring to had already indicated that. The credit goes to Mohsin Naqvi. He refused and said no, don’t impose a ban — just fine him. He has a future. He can pay money, but you shouldn’t play with someone’s career],” Basit said.“Jab yeh central contract sign karte hain, wahan par saare clauses likhe hote hain. Us samay yeh kyun nahi padhte? Aur us waqt apne manager ko kyun bhej dete hain? Galti hui hai — chahe aap bolein manager ne ki hai ya Naseem Shah ne. Warna 2 saal ki pabandi hoti. 2 saal bahut hote hain [When players sign a central contract, all these clauses are clearly mentioned. Why don’t they read them at that time? And why do they send their manager instead? A mistake has been made — whether you say it was by the manager or by Naseem Shah. Otherwise, there would have been a two-year ban. And two years is a long time],” the former cricketer added.Naseem was issued a show-cause notice on March 27, immediately after Maryam visited the Gaddafi Stadium as chief guest for the PSL opener.The post was quickly deleted, and it was claimed that the account had been hacked, but the PCB did not accept the explanation.The board stated that Naseem had issued an unconditional apology for his conduct.“Naseem’s reply was reviewed by the committee, and after evaluating everything, it has been determined that Naseem is found to have breached various clauses of his central contract, and a fine of PKR 2 crore has been imposed,” the PCB said.Naseem’s social media adviser has already been terminated and blacklisted by the PCB.
