SOMEONE once said, most probably it was Winston Churchill, that nothing is officially confirmed until it is officially denied. Words of a brave man, something that our PCB Chairman, Lt General Tauqir Zia has so far been unable to come up with.
Since the World Cup debacle, the good General has been trying to justify his job. Not only that, he has also been trying to convince the populace that he is not to blame for any wrong doing. This he has done so, with the help of a few friendly ‘articles’ in the local press. More like work of PR, the article seems a desperate attempt at communicating that the World Cup disaster has nothing to do with the PCB top brass and everything to do with the players.
In fact Gen Tauqir would have done a better job had he frankly addressed the shortcomings on part of the management and then asked for more time to rectify them. There is no shame in that. However, it is clear that the General does not want to go down as a loser.
There have been leaders who have done that and in fact learned from their mistakes and then went on to do wonders. So why not apply what has been learnt, albeit at a huge price to Pakistan cricket, and put things in order?
Apparently there is some reason for Gen. Tauqir to request the President, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of the cricket board, to grant him some more time to do the job right. Most important is that there was every chance that a new chairman would have continued with the same set of players and then after another disaster, blamed the board. It normally happens that way in our country. It would have still harmed Pakistan cricket since some of the senior players have indeed been part of the problem.
The General’s departure would also have been seen as a player victory over the General. Imagine the worst ever World Cup performance, dumped on the General.
Having said that the PCB top management must be accountable for the many steps it has taken in the past three years. These are the decisions that have affected the all round strength, mental toughness, focus on the job, passion for the game and country, and an unquestionable leadership. Of course all these factors affected race to the build up of an effective team spirit which eventually managed to destroy our World Cup hopes.
Over the past three years we’ve had some ten coaches and three captains, along with some 14 opening combinations. If we dig deeper we are sure to find even more strategic decisions that have nothing to do with the players but adversely impacted the team’s preparation. We even had three coaches and three managers in the four months leading up to the World Cup. Isn’t that a reflection of the indecision and symptomatic lack of vision that affects the team members?
A Review Board should also look at who hired Richard Pybus, an international coach who had previously had no record of coaching a national team? Someone should also ask whether the money that was given to Jeff Boycott and Clive Lloyd, for the 15 day fly-overs, would have paid for a whole year’s salary of people like Mushtaq Mohammad, Haroon Rashid, Abdul Qadir, Zaheer Abbas and even Javed Miandad.
General Tauqir did his best. But his best did not prove good enough. There has been the thinking that if you give a lot of everything, a lot will get through. Might is right. Unfortunately what may apply to Iraq, is not applicable proportionately to team building. Team and player management has erroneously been seen as a percentage game.
To give the General a proper idea of where he went wrong, the cook at his mess ought to prepare a special meal for him. One that includes a variety of twenty vegetables, cooked with chicken, mutton and beef. Add rice, both boiled and flavoured followed by an assortment of fruits. The General should then be invited to eat it all, with gram flour bread.
The general has ended up spending millions on the country’s asset which he defined as Shoaib Akhtar. What he did not realize is that his abject favouritism was destroying team-spirit and leading to class building, not to mention the young man’s own vision of himself.
Then the authority of the coach, captain and manager was being usurped when decisions were taken directly with the players. Why blame senior players for not following the leadership’s instructions? If players are let go and allowed to return directly to the event venues, why blame captain or coach for not imbuing a game plan. Is that the players’ fault?
General Tauqir is working hard on a number of fronts. Improving the game, both on the field and off it.
Unfortunately, in today’s private-sector world, each man pulls for his survival, and to listen to everyone leads a manager nowhere but in circles.
As we look back at the past three years, one is reminded of the sepia-toned movie, Last Man Standing. In the movie, actor Bruce Willis plays the role of a man brought in to support one of the warring factions of a desert town. In the end, he is the left as the only survivor of an orgy of killing on both sides.
Indeed the scenario of the international season gone by, has left only the General standing. Gone are the days when the captain went down with the ship.
The General may have exonerated himself and his close set of policy makers. However, one feels that he has realized the gravity of his mistakes over the past three years. During this time he listened to just about everyone. That is never the problem until you start implementing everyone’s advice. The last man heard gets the nod. That is until the next man comes along.
Hopefully he will stick to his new team, no matter how hard the cricket side falls. Sharjah may not test them as much as the short tour of England this summer and the full tour of New Zealand this coming December. If he doesn’t, he’ll surely be the last man sitting when the lights are turned off at Gaddafi Stadium.
SOMEONE once said, most probably it was Winston Churchill, that nothing is officially confirmed until it is officially denied. Words of a brave man, something that our PCB Chairman, Lt General Tauqir Zia has so far been unable to come up with.
