Windies players to be paid big money to tour Pakistan for T20I series

The Windies are scheduled to travel to Pakistan in April for a three-match T20I series to be staged at the Karachi International Stadium. The series is slated to begin after the end of the third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the ICC World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced lucrative deals for the players ahead of the upcoming series.

The Windies cricketers are set to be paid 70 percent more or even double of what they would originally have been paid for playing a three-match T20I series. Johnny Grave, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Caribbean Cricket Board expressed the reasoning behind the step in a recent interaction with the media.

Helping hand by the Windies

“Pakistan are looking to play more cricket at home, by playing half of the PSL in Pakistan next year and a number of matches in upcoming bilateral series under the current FTP. However what they can’t continue to do is pay international players additional fees to tour Pakistan or PSL,” Grave was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

The CEO also mentioned that the revenues they would earn from the series while emphasising on extending their helping hand to bring cricket back to Pakistan. “So, considering this tour is outside the Future Tours Programme, the PCB have made a payment to CWI that is being fully utilized. CWI isn’t making any money from the series, just supporting cricket going back to Pakistan,” he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had previously shelled out USD 12,500 each for every Zimbabwean cricketer when they toured the country in 2015. They also paid an extra amount to the overseas players to play in Lahore’s final after a bomb blast in the city. However, the board refrained from paying anything to the Sri Lanka team when they recently visited Pakistan for a T20 International.

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