The former Pakistan pace bowler, Tanveer Ahmed, has displayed his frustration with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for paying PKR 50 lakh (nearly INR 15 lakh) to each of the five mentors for the upcoming Champions One-Day Cup 2024 teams.
Earlier, the board hired the former legends of the game- Shoaib Malik, Waqar Younis, Misbah Ul Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, and the current wicket-keeper batter of the side, Sarfaraz Ahmed as the mentors for the upcoming domestic tournament.
The tournament will feature the country’s 150 best players, which will be a 50-over tournament that will be played in a single-league format. All of the games will be played in the afternoon apart from the only morning affair on September 16. There will also be three playoffs in four days with the final fixture on September 29.
“He is Pakistan’s king and will remain that”- Tanveer Ahmed
Shoaib Malik, who has featured in the 2007 and 2019 ODI World Cup, besides being part of six T20 World Cups, will work with the Stallions, who will face the Lions on September 13, followed by the games against Wolves, Dolphins and Panthers.
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“I am confident that I can still contribute significantly to the Stallion brand by sharing my experience and passion for the game. As a mentor, my role goes beyond just providing guidance from the dugout.” The veteran all-rounder of Pakistan expressed after his appointment.
However, the former pacer of the national side, Tanveer Ahmed, felt that it wouldn’t be right for the PCB to offer that much money only for the mentoring role.
“Waqar Younis, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Misbah ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, and Saqlain Mushtaq, In sab ko as a mentor 50 Lac diye ja rahe hain matlab in ka itna level ha in logon ko 50 Lac diya ja rahe ha. (These guys are getting PKR 50 lack as mentors. Do you think they have that level).” The 43-year-old questions the level of quality of the five players.
The veteran and former captain of the current Pakistan side, Babar Azam, is facing some criticism for his downfall in scoring runs across formats. He already struggled in the recent T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), where the team under his captaincy also made a group stage exit from the event.
In the opening Test of the two-match series at home against Bangladesh, Babar faced some slamming after twin failures in the game, as he was dismissed for a two-ball duck in the first innings.
Tanveer, although blamed the critics of the right-hander, as he addressed him as ‘King’ and remarked that the Lahore-born would always remain the best for the side, irrespective of the outside noise.
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“Jo jalta ha babar azam say jalta rahe woh Pakistan ka KING ha or rahe ga jo cricketer’s babar azam k against baat kartey hain mujhe sab pata ha unka kitne fiqar the Pakistan ki sab k apney time utha kar dekhain woh apney time par kia kartey rahe hain (The ones who are jealous can be jealous. He is Pakistan’s king and will remain that. The cricketers who are speaking against Babar Azam, I know how much they care about Pakistan. See what they did in their time).” He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Babar again couldn’t come up with a great knock in the second Test, as he was dismissed on 31 in the first innings at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.