Asia Cup 2025: Have Pakistan been given low-quality kits? Corruption allegations surface

There seems to no end to embarrassing episodes for Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup. Close on the heels of their boycott threat falling flat, has come the allegation that the team has been given low-quality kits for the tournament.

Pakistan are into the Super Fours, with convincing wins over Oman and the UAE. But they were crushed by seven wickets by arch-rivals India. But, the match was full of drama, as Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav and other players refused to shake hands with the Pakistani team in a gesture of solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families. Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha skipped the post-match briefing in protest.

The team also filed two complaints against match referee Andy Pycroft, blaming him for the handshake fiasco, and threatened to pull out of the match against the UAE if he was not removed. The ICC, however, refused to play along, forcing the Pakistanis to take the field after claiming Pycroft ‘apologised’ for the incident against India.

And now, a former Pakistan player has slammed the PCB for providing low-quality kits to the players for the tournament. Ex-wicketkeeper-batter Atiq-uz-Zaman claimed that while players of other countries were seen sporting dry-fit kits, the Pakistani players were seen drenched, with sweat dripping through their jerseys.

Zaman, who played one Test and three ODIs for Pakistan, also accused the PCB of corruption and alleged that the Board awarded the tender for the kits to friends and not professionals. He later clarified that his comments were aimed not at the PCB chairman (Mohsin Naqvi) but at those responsible for the kits.

Pakistan are set to take on India again in the Super Fours stage on September 21, before playing against Sri Lanka on September 23 and Bangladesh on September 25.