A Pakistan-based journalist has labelled serious corruption and financial mismanagement charges against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The journalist named Shahid Hashmi slammed the board for the chaos it created during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Hashmi made a shocking revelation, alleging that a pitch curator sold his motorbike to arrange fertilisers for the maintenance of the pitch in Rawalpindi as the PCB refused to co-operate.

Hashmi’s claims came in the wake of Pakistan’s group-stage exit from the home Champions Trophy, followed by the New Zealand tour debacle.

"I learned something very strange yesterday. Fertilisers were needed for maintenance of Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, so budget and expenses for it were sent to the PCB. But it just stayed hidden in some file. The curator sold his personal motorbike to arrange fertilisers for the stadium," Hashmi said on Samaa TV.

"What can be worse? You were given a budget for fertilisers, but you didn't get the fertilisers. So the curator had to sell his own motorbike to do the work," he added.

Hashmi also shared example of financial corruption in Pakistan cricket. "Yesterday in Karachi, they needed a long piece of cotton to cover the pitch and water it. People had to contribute money for that and the curator got the piece from behind the National Stadium," Hashmi stated.

"The budget received by PCB for the Champions Trophy 2025, there was no proper work done on it."

"They just put their work on each other, and didn't do their own work. No work is being done for the management of pitches for domestic matches and then when it comes to scheduling, they don't give the weather report, which they are needed to. They don't do any work and there is a lot of work for it," he further added.

Recently, PCB claimed that it earned three billion rupees by staging the ICC tournament, exceeding its target of two billion rupees.

The governing body also said that there have been no budget overruns so far because of the Champions Trophy and other issues.

"The PCB undergoes two audits annually, at the end of its fiscal year. The audits for the current fiscal year will take place after June 30, 2025," the PCB confirmed.

The PCB further insisted that there had been no overspending or mismanagement, as the Champions Trophy was entirely managed by the ICC.

(With PTI Inputs)