December 4, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 9, 1424

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The inevitable has happened though somewhat belated but not surprising at all, as the writing was already on the wall. Lt Gen (retd) Tauqir Zia finally decided to quit as chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ad hoc committee but not before he had turned Pakistan cricket into a circus and a laughing stock.

In our land of the pure, individuals assigned high profile jobs do not believe in quitting gracefully. Either they get the boot or are forced to resign. What prompted Tauqir to call it a day only he and his boss could say.

No one in Pakistan quits lucrative jobs, a tradition kept alive ever since this nation was founded in 1947. PCB chief’s job is no ordinary appointment.

In fact, after the country’s chief executive, whether it is president, prime minister or martial law administrator, it is the most glamorous assignment, with millions of dollars to throw around, favour near and dear ones, unlimited VVIP travels all over the globe, besides being the most sought-after personality for the electronic and print

media with no checks and balances.

So one can understand why PCB bosses never voluntarily give up the job. I cannot remember any previous cricket chief of this country who has quit of his free will. All of them have been either unceremoniously dumped or diplomatically given marching orders.

No wonder, already scores of well-connected personalities are hanging around their Godfathers begging them to push their cases to the appointing authority as the most suitable person to replace Tauqir.

When Tauqir took over reins of cricket in December 1999, Pakistan was only second to all-conquering Australia, a team of high quality players admired and envied the

world over. And being a serving general under the military rule Tauqir took all this in his stride without considering the damage he was doing to the game.

But with his, at times, mind- boggling decisions Pakistan became the whipping boy finally culminating in the lowest of lows in Test against Australia and the eventual humiliation of failing to reach second stage of the World Cup in South Africa.

Tauqir tendered his resignation after the debacle against Australia in Sharjah but took it back on the pretext of a fresh challenge, a popular slogan in our country, and vowed to put the house in order with a five-year old fantasy Vision-2005 plan.

Unfortunately, his dream was shattered, although he wasted millions of rupees on this venture, an exercise in futility for a debt-ridden country.

While the team’s performance graph kept plunging, acts of indiscipline amongst

the team management and players rose, giving Pakistan further bad name amongst the comity of cricket playing nations. Pakistan cricketers were found guilty of all sorts of misdemeanours on and off the field, including indiscipline and, worst of all, cheating.

To describe the last four years as the darkest chapter in Pakistan’s chequered cricket history will not be an exaggeration. Not a day went by when there was a controversy

of one kind or another surfaced.

No one in team management or players felt safe and dreaded the worst. Coaches, managers and captains were used as Russian roulette, making mockery of good governance so proudly declared by Tauqir when taking charge of cricket affairs.

Multiple reasons brought about Tauqir’s downfall, the major ones being his strange choice of hiring scores of officials, inconsistent policies and total disdain for accountability of his actions.

His dependence on one man, Ramiz Raja, wearing five hats, an average Test player, earned him a bad name. Engaging dozens of foreign coaches allegedly at the behest of Ramiz for astronomical remunerations brought bitter criticism from every quarter.

Tauqir’s spin doctors’ advice to silence his critics by hiring or offering jobs to everyone and anyone critical of PCB policies too backfired. On the contrary through this unethical practice the PCB chief made more enemies than friends.

During Tauqir’s four-year reign, PCB failed to make any headway in drawing up the organization’s constitution, an essential task of the ad hoc committee. Neither did the PCB boss deem it necessary to make public, audited accounts despite repeated demands by the press.

Another irrational decision on the part of Tauqir was the appointment of controversial Aamir Sohail as chief selector. A man known for his attitude problem, Aamir, to please his boss, went too far by giving the PCB chief’s son a Pakistan cap while more deserving players were left out.Aamir was also involved in washing dirty linen in public with Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq that also brought the good name of Pakistan into disrepute.

The last straw was the battle of television channels and, at that, even his boss decided enough was enough and the time for Tauqir to go had come.

Whoever replaces Tauqir the task ahead of clearing the mess will be a monumental one. One hopes his successor will learn from the mistakes made by his predecessor.

Unfortunately, past experience in this respect has always been very bitter.