Naseem Shah fined heavily by PCB in controversial Maryam Nawaz tweet row

Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah has been hit with a massive PKR 20 million (approx. USD 72,000) fine by the PCB over a tweet critical of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. This is the largest fine that has been handed out to a Pakistani cricketer.

The tweet came ahead of Rawalpindi Pindiz’s opening game in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 on Friday, March 27. Pindiz are one of two new franchises in the league, and Naseem is one of their marquee homegrown players in their dressing room.

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi had announced the 2026 edition of the  PSL would take place without spectators due to concerns over fuel conservation owing to the ongoing conflict in West Asia. 

However, despite this, several prominent dignitaries were present at the first game on March 26. Maryam Nawaz, who is the daughter of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the niece of current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, was shown arriving at the Gaddafi Stadium and interacting with people, including players from Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen, the two teams playing the opening fixture.

Following this incident, Naseem quoted a post of this incident from his X (formerly Twitter) saying, “Why is she treated like the Queen at Lord’s?”

This post was quickly taken down, with Naseem clarifying in a later post that it was an error on his part as his account had been hacked.

A PCB hearing on Monday confirmed that Naseem had issued an unconditional apology and fired his social media manager, who has now been blacklisted by the PCB.

This is another instance of the PCB clamping down on political messaging by their players. Last year, all-rounder Aamer Jamal was fined PKR 1 million after a slogan showing support for former prime minister and cricket legend Imran Khan. 

This fine takes up almost eight months of Naseem’s central contract salary. Naseem is in the ‘C’ category of the centrally contracted names in the PCB list.