THE history of cricket in Pakistan is a rich and glorious one. The rich cricketing background is also reflected by the fact that the year 2002 is the Golden Jubilee year of Test cricket in Pakistan.
There have been many cricketing legends that fans can be proud of. And, it is only natural that the great players of the past maybe compared to the current crop of players, both at international and national levels. Moreover, Pakistanis tend to be very emotional and enthusiastic when it comes to their favourite sport and sportsmen. Therefore, the recent poor performance of the Pakistani team is a matter of great concern and sorrow.
Lovers of the game cannot look the other way when things are going wrong. What was the point in hiring a coach who was not even given such an assignment in South Africa, where he resides. His cricketing and coaching skills leave much to be desired. An example of which is the fact that he and the captain sent Abdul Razzak, a bowling all-rounder, at number three, the most crucial and important batting position in Test cricket.
It also goes to show that PCB is ignoring all young cricketers who play their heart out in domestic cricket at the No. 3 position and perform well. Our national team has been turned into a ‘mohalla team, where 15 players are constantly shuffled from one position to another.
I have not seen such an irresponsible decision in any team ever, one will never expect Australia to send Brett Lee at No. 3, or expect Srinath to be sent to bat at that position in a Test match for India. Richard Pybus was a nobody before he joined Pakistan Team in his previous stint, and now he is busy in a useless war of the words with much better players and ex-players. The mathematicians at PCB consider it wise to pay this novice an exuberant amount, while asking someone like Zaheer or Hanif to coach youngsters in rural areas for much less. Javed Miandad rightly refused such an offer.
People at PCB probably think that a foreign coach, who speaks English, would do better than our own coaches who are trained by PCB few months back for the purpose. Legends have been ignored again and again. Why can’t Zaheer Abbas be the coach? Why can’t the legendary Miandad be given some sort of assignment in this regard with pride. Mediocres such as Rameez Raja are much more busy in making money as TV commentator, while he should concentrate on his job with the PCB for which he is being paid so high. Such entire behaviour only goes to show PCB’s failure to patronize ex-cricketers and the inability to choose the right persons for the right job.
PCB seems to be dominated, sometimes, by few players who become all powerful, and new and younger players don’t get a chance to utilize their full potential in either batting or bowling. Problems are not tackled properly. There should be proper and better planning and strategy, which has, sadly, not been the case in recent times.
With the World Cup just around the corner, one wonders if the team will qualify for even the quarter-finals. We must utilize the abilities and services of our great cricketers such as Javed Miandad and Zaheer Abbas.
As for Miandad, he holds the world record for making most runs in World Cup matchers and has participated in more World Cups competitions than any other cricketer. He is the right man for the job but it is a shame that he has been unceremoniously dumped from the job in the past, even when he was doing fine.
However, one hopes that all is still not lost and the PCB takes some constructive measures to improve the situation. Whether we are able to win the World Cup 2003 or not is not important, what matters is that we should put on a decent performance and not end up being at the bottom of the pool.
THE history of cricket in Pakistan is a rich and glorious one. The rich cricketing background is also reflected by the fact that the year 2002 is the Golden Jubilee year of Test cricket in Pakistan.
