Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi's activity on 'X' irks PCB; board set to amend central contracts clause: Report

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi appeared on ‘spaces’ on X, and engaged with fans

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is reportedly not too happy with former skipper Babar Azam and current national T20 captain Shaheen Shah Afridi's participation in a social media space with fans on the platform 'X'. While the Q&A sessions on X with Babar drew over 20,000 fans, Shaheen's session attracted around 4000 fans, and the PCB views these engagements with concern.

Pakistan's T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (C) celebrates with former captain Babar Azam after the wicket of New Zealand's Tim Seifert during NZ T20I series(AFP)

According to a report from PTI, the decision by Babar and Shaheen to proceed with the social media sessions, evidently arranged by their agent, has not been well-received by the board. The PCB is now considering a revisit in clauses in the contracts of centrally contracted players to address concerns about their social media activities.

"The PCB will look to revisit some of the clauses that the centrally contracted players need to adhere to," PTI quoted a source as saying.

“The clauses covering the social media activities of contracted players are now being reviewed again by the board because it is concerned such public Q&A sessions could result in unnecessary controversies.”

Tensions between the PCB and players regarding social media usage and NOCs for foreign T20 leagues have been escalating since last year. Complicating matters is the recent turnover in PCB leadership, with the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as the fourth chairman since December 2022. This has contributed to a lack of clarity between players, their agents, and the board.

"Every PCB chairman has tried to run the board in his own way and in some cases, even ignored the written clauses of the central contracts and given special permissions to players in the past 12 months," the source noted.

Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has requested details about the central contracts with players and transcripts of all player interviews and social media content from recent months. Naqvi is reportedly seeking a revised media policy for players, prompting the PCB to consider revising certain clauses of the central contracts.

"Naqvi clearly wants a revised media policy for players and for this, the PCB could revise some clauses of the central contracts," the source added.