Karachi: Eight members of the Pakistan World Cup squad have been fined for violating the team curfew hours ahead of their crucial World Cup opening match against arch-rivals India, to be played on February 15.
A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official confirmed to PTI that reports of the eight players being reprimanded and fined for a late night out were correct.
"Yes, manager Naved Akram Cheema has warned the players that no more transgressions of the code of conduct will be tolerated and they can be sent back home as punishment," said the official.
The eight players include senior all-rounder Shahid Afridi, opener Ahmed Shehzad, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail.
The official said the players had gone out for dinner with a friend in Sydney before the warm-up game against Bangladesh.
"After dinner, they went for an outing and returned to the hotel late. They have been fined 300 Australian dollars each."
The players had returned to the hotel about an hour after the curfew timings set by the manager.
But a source told PTI that the matter became serious when some pictures of Afridi were posted on a social network site and a prominent local Pakistani Australian informed the team management that Shehzad had got into an argument with a Pakistani fan at a club.
The players are understood to have apologised and have promised not to repeat the offence.
"The team manager has made it clear that in future whenever they go out, they must have his clearance first," the source added.
