Negligence of PCB, women players narrowly escaped fire in hotel, championship had to be ended midway

Pakistan Cricket: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ended the National Women's Championship midway here on Monday. There was great negligence on the part of the board regarding women players. An incident of fire has come to light in the hotel where the players were staying. Due to which five players of the team narrowly escaped. The PCB had booked an entire floor of the hotel for the five competing teams and team officials.

How did the remaining players survive?

A source close to Pakistan told PTI, when the fire broke out, all the cricketers and officials except five players were at the National Stadium either for the match or for the net session. The source said, 'Five players were in their rooms when the fire broke out. Due to this, some property of players and officials has been damaged.

Statement from PCB

The PCB said in a statement, 'Following the fire incident in the team hotel, the PCB has decided to cancel the National Women's ODI Tournament 2024-25 in Karachi. Fortunately, no players were injured as the PCB immediately evacuated the five players who were in the hotel at the time of the incident and safely took them to the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre.

Uproar over Champions Trophy

On the other hand, Pakistan Cricket Board seems to be entangled in the issue of Champions Trophy. PCB is desperate to invite Team India to Pakistan. However, it has been confirmed that the Indian team will not tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. Pakistan Board has demanded clarification from ICC on this decision of BCCI. At present, Pakistan has not received any reply from ICC. This has been confirmed by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi himself. It will be interesting to see what decision the ICC takes on this.