IT seems like a long time ago when in a single year, Pakistan was the world's champion in cricket, hockey and squash. One by one the titles were lost and we now figure among the also-rans.
No one realistically believes that we will produce another Jahangir Khan or Jansher Khan. Pakistan has had to fight hard just to qualify for the Olympic hockey. The gold medal is a distant dream. If we come up with the bronze, it will be quite an achievement. This leaves cricket.
Even the wildest optimist will be hard put entertain any hopes that we can reach the heights of a team like Australia. As matters stand now, they are out of our reach. Like political polls, team rankings are unreliable.
But Pakistan would not figure among the top five, India, South Africa, England and New Zealand would be ahead of us on the basis of consistency. But it is to India we must look for the socio-economic conditions are similar, so too is the passion for the game.
How did India achieve its present, eminent position in cricket? This was a team that found it near-impossible to win a Test series away from home, that was accused by its own respected cricket pundits of being "chokers." Yet it went to Australia and drew the Test series, it came to Pakistan and won both the one-day and Test series and did it in style.
The domestic structure of Indian cricket has been very much the same for many years. The Ranji Trophy has been its centre-piece. So its success in the international circuit cannot be attributed to it.
A lot of credit will have to its cricket board, which has functioned like a regulatory body on the principle that that government is best that governs least. But it is there and has stamped its authority.
India has in place a team-support structure and while it experimented with a number of coaches from its own ranks, Madan Lal, Anshuman Gaekwad and even Kapil Dev come to mind, it settled for a New Zealander, John Wright, not by a long shot a superstar, and India has stuck by him.
India experimented with captains as well, Sachin Tendulkar was one of them, until they gave the job to Saurav Ganguly. There was a good deal wrong with him, he had a short fuse, was temperamental and came from Bengal, a region better known for its football than cricket and in terms of clout, Bengal had very little in the power-game of Indian cricket politics.
Ganguly proved to be a revelation and is rated as, perhaps, the best captain India has ever had. The Indian cricket team reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity of India itself. There are Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians in the team. They all respect the authority of Ganguly and he gets their loyalty.
Between John Wright and Ganguly, they have found a winning combination. And the two of them get on famously, each respecting the others area of responsibility.
I write this because Pakistan cricket too needs to be re-organized on similar lines. We should get rid of ad hocism and strive towards continuity. As sports bodies go, the cricket board is wealthy. It does not depend on the government for grants.
The primary function of the cricket board has to be the development of the game on the one hand and on the other to produce a national team that can aspire to be among the world's best.
Cricket is in danger of losing its popularity because the perception is that its house is not in order. It is something of a standing joke in international cricket that no sooner than Pakistan loses, then everyone connected with it is at each other's throat. We saw a good example of this when we lost to India.
Whatever differences there were between officials and players were aired in public, angry and accusing statements that showed deep divisions. The loss to India, apart from not being the end of the world, should have been an opportunity of calm reflection, to identify the weak areas both on and off the field.
Everyone responsible for the team's performance should have put up his hand and accepted his share of responsibility. A team wins and a team loses. When it wins, everyone should get the credit, when it loses, everyone must share the blame. That's the way a healthy organisation should be run.
There is not much in the way of international cricket. England's tour of the West Indies is all but over and New Zealand's tour of England is about to begin.The West Indies have managed to salvage some pride but look far from the team they used to be. Still, it is a young team with only Ridley Jacobs and Brian Lara over thirty years old.
The West Indies must bear in mind that it will be playing host to the World Cup 2007 and it won't do for it to be knocked out in the first round. Still, no host country has ever won the World Cup.
New Zealand is one of the world's most improved team and if they can get Shane Bond and Nathan Astle fit, I would pick them to beat England despite the fact that England has a fast bowling attack as good as any in the world. It should be a very good series.
Pakistan, of course, will be going to Malaysia and, hopefully, with a young team. Time to give some exposure to our Under-19 world champions and see how they shape up in a bigger league.
