The PCB Management Committee's decision to discontinue the Pakistan Junior League (PJL) took the cricket world by storm, considering the huge financial numbers costing the project. Former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja's dream project, the inaugural season of PJL was held in October last year, with the project costing PCB PKR 1 billion, of which 440 million was listed as match fees for players and staff.
After the news broke out, Raja lashed out at the PCB and called it 'vendetta politics'. "It is so sad that PJL has fallen to vendetta politics and rolled back even though 7 of the kids made it to PSL 8 emerging category and 3 are part of Pak vs NZ as reserves", he wrote on Twitter.
Reacting to Raja's tweet, one user questioned Raja about the huge player salaries in the league. He commented, "it was a great idea, but do you not think paying $22,000 to u19 kids is too much? I think PJL should still be played, but we can manage the costs better."
Reacting to the comment, Shamyl Hussain, Gwadar Sharks captain, revealed that the players never got paid. "We never got paid haroon bhai", he quipped with laughing emoticons.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to the comment, Shamyl Hussain, Gwadar Sharks captain, revealed that the players never got paid. "We never got paid haroon bhai", he quipped with laughing emoticons.
{{/usCountry}}Fans couldn't believe Shamyl's reply and reacted with disbelief. One user wrote, "What? No Way."
AFter deciding to discontinue PJL, the PCB will be reviving the junior series on a home and away basis to help with a pathway for high-performing teenagers. They will also be asking PSL teams to have an U-19 player in their Emerging Player Category in the playing XIs.
Since his exit as PCB boss, Raja has found himself in controversy and alleged that he was not allowed to take his belongings from the office. He also called his exit as 'political victimisation', followed by the PCB threatening to take legal action.