Naseem Shah Under Fire for Maryam Nawaz Post During PSL 2026, PCB Takes Action

Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah is in trouble after a controversial social media post during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken a strict notice and started disciplinary action against the young fast bowler.

The trouble started when Naseem had shared a post on X replying to a tweet from the official Pakistan Cricket Board's account. In his tweet he said, "Why is she treated like the Queen at Lord's?". The question seemed to have been aimed at Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz who was at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium watching the first match of PSL 2026 between Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen.

The Punjab Chief Minister was welcomed at the Gaddafi Stadium with full honors by the Punjab Cricket Association, and later had a meet and greet session with the players of the two teams at the opening day of the 11th season of the PSL. She was escorted to the ground with a convoy of vehicles, and the pomp around her was something that drew Naseem Shah's account's ire.

The tweet then went viral all across the social media and had a lot of debate across the platform, before the tweet was later deleted. Naseem's later claimed that he was hacked and the tweet wasn't from him.

PCB Not Convinced, Show-Cause Notice Issued

Despite Naseem's claims of his account being hacked, the Pakistan Cricket Board is not satisfied. The board, now led by Pakistan's Interior Minister and ex-Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, is taking the issue very seriously.

The Daily Star reported that The PCB had already issued a show-cause notice to Naseem Shah and accused him of violating clauses within his central contract and the PCB media policy. As the PCB Code of Conduct clearly states that players must not "directly or indirectly criticize the Board, its officials or policy or sponsors" in public, the board thinks that the tweet from Naseem Shah's account may have indeed gone against these clauses.

The 23-year-old Naseem Shah is now playing for Rawalpindiz in the PSL 2026, one of the two new sides this year. The side has already had their first outing which turned out to be a loss to Peshawar Zalmi by 5 wickets. Naseem had a poor outing with the ball as he went for 51 runs in four overs, as his side which was captained by Mohammad Rizwan couldn't defend the 214 runs that they set up against Zalmi.

Prior to this, Naseem had represented the Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators in the PSL. He is widely considered to be the next big thing in Pakistan's fast bowling contingent.

In the past couple of weeks, Naseem has also had very limited game time in the T20 World Cup as the Pakistan team, led by Salman Ali Agha had a very poor outing and failed to qualify for the semis after finishing third in their Super 8 group. He featured in only one game against

Sri Lanka in Pallekele which also proved to be the last game for Pakistan in the tournament as they lost the game. He took one wicket for 36 runs from his spell of four overs in that encounter.

The fate of Naseem Shah's future at the PCB is now down to the decision of the board following this controversy.