'Queen' jibe lands Naseem Shah in hot water; PCB sends notice
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued a show-cause notice to pacer Naseem Shah for allegedly violating his central contract. A deleted X post by Shah appeared to criticize Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz, who was the guest of honor at the PSL 2026 opening match. The PCB stated that disciplinary action will be determined after hearing Shah's explanation.
Naseem Shah has been accused by the PCB for violating the terms of his central contract after a deleted X post appeared to crticise CM of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz. Maryam Nawaz daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Shareef, was the guest of honour at the opening match of the 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL) at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The newly made team Hyderabad Kingsmen faced the defending champions Pakistan Qalandars in the opening match of PSL 2026.
Ahead of the match, Maryam, was warmly welcomed by the PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi who introduced her to the franchise owners participating in the tournament. Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah has sparked controversy even before stepping onto the field in PSL 2026, where he is set to represent Rawalpindi Pindiz. The fast bowler triggered a debate on the opening day of the tournament after posting a sarcastic remark about Maryam Nawaz Naseem, who has represented Pakistan in all formats and has 152 international wickets, has been given a show-cause notice by the board.
A statement from PCB said that disciplinary action would be determined after hearing Naseem's side of things, as per ESPNCricinfo. Naseem, representing Rawalpindi Pindiz, one of the two new PSL franchises. Last week, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced that the tournament would be taking place without spectators in the stadium due to the need to conserve fuel following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the West Asia crisis.
Naseem quote-tweeted the post from PCB's media account, saying, " Why is she treated like the Queen at Lord's? ". Minutes later, the post was deleted and replaced with another post claiming that the pacer's account had been hacked and eventually recovered by him.