Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 million ($95,378) for every Champions Trophy winning team member and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has offered Rs 1 million ($9,537) to each member of the squad.
In addition, a bonus of Rs 29 million ($2,76,598) will be divided and distributed among all members of the squad according to their ceilings in central contracts.
The Sarfraz Ahmed-led side clinched their maiden Champions Trophy crown, defeating India by 180 runs at The Oval in London in Sunday’s final.
Opener Fakhar Zaman, pacer Rumaan Raees and all-rounder Fahim Ashraf all made their ODI debuts in the Champions Trophy while 18-year-old spinner Shadab Khan has just played seven ODIs for Pakistan.
Others like captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Hassan Ali, Emad Wasim were also playing in their first Champions Trophy tournament. For all these players, the Champions Trophy is turning out to be a bonanza in financial terms.
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb said the Prime Minister announced the awards as the national team had lifted the spirits of the nation.
Aurangzeb told the media yesterday that the Pakistan team made the nation proud by becoming the champions.
“The national cricket team showed excellent performance while batting, bowling and fielding in the tournament and it fully deserves the appreciation and patronage of the nation and the government,” she said, adding that encouraging young players would help promote sports in the country.
Marriyum also said every province should follow Punjab CM’s model for revival of domestic cricket through construction of more than 150 state-of–the-art cricket grounds, of which more than 60 had been completed and the rest were under construction.
“Unprecedented and historic budget has been allocated for sports in Punjab during the coming fiscal year,” she said.
Sharif will also host a grand reception for the winning team. The players have also been invited to visit the Senate with the trophy to honour them for their victory.
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and Executive Committee chairman Najam Sethi have warmly congratulated the Pakistan team for winning the Champions Trophy.
Besides captain Sarfraz Ahmed and all members of the team, they appreciated coach Mickey Arthur and his staff.
“Positive and supporting role of the management has also been critical in achieving success for the team. Special appreciation is also due to national chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and his fellow selectors,” they said in a PCB statement.
The PCB also announced that besides the cash bonus of 29 million rupees due to the team as part of their central contracts, the Board would also give each player a cash bonus of one million rupees.
The team has already pocketed prize money of around 200 million rupees from the ICC for winning the trophy. Famous builder Riaz Malik has also announced cash prizes of one million rupees each and plots for the players while others are slated to follow soon.
A marketing executive said the new players would also earn a lot now from endorsements after the Champions Trophy victory.