WITH a fresh cricket season round the corner, things at home are not quite what they should have been. Though the PCB and its selectors have already announced the probables for the upcoming series against Bangladesh, the manner in which it came about has betrayed some sort of confusion within the system.
There are players who wish to sit out the series, some will miss out the earlier part of it, some will miss out the latter part of the series. There are still others who wanted to be in the fray, but the PCB is not interested. Going through newspapers every morning, it was really difficult to see who would actually be playing against Bangladesh. In fact, there were days when I thought Bangladesh may as well get a walkover, as Pakistan was struggling to put together a team worth its salt; so frequent were the reports citing player after player deciding to stay away.
Touring sides have often struggled to field a fit side in view of on-the-tour injuries and have to call for replacements, but, for God’s sake, Pakistan was facing a crisis in a home series! The only difference is that while an injury, or indisposition, is the main reason for the touring sides, the PCB was struggling because the players wanted to fulfil their County commitments ahead of their national duty. Even when the County concerned announced that it was willing to release Shoaib Akhtar to enable him to don Pakistan colours, newspapers quoted the player as having said that he was still not sure if he really wanted to play against Bangladesh.
As someone who was on the County circuit for long, I can say this with certainty that things were different in those good old times when nothing could be preferred over national duty. And it was not just me, or a few others, mind you. That was the norm.
Even when I joined the Kerry Packer series in Australia along with a few of my colleagues, it was the national cricketing authority that went ahead and banned me from representing the country even though I had left my commitments midway and had made myself available for selection, and, in fact, had reached Karachi with two other colleagues to have the honour of representing my country. As time proved, the cricket board was at fault, and had to revert its decision later. But things have changed now, with financial commitments taking precedence over national duty.
While basically players have to carry the blame, the PCB cannot absolve itself of all responsibility, for it does have a hand in promoting this unfortunate trend. When the authorities allow some player or a group of players to stay away from national commitments and make merry on the County or League circuit, it only encourages the others to follow suit. And the PCB goes out of its way to let everyone know who the favourites are.
It is heartening to see Inzamamul Haq back in contention. He really was being missed because the PCB and its selectors wanted to teach him a lesson. All along they had been saying that in order to get back, Inzamam will have to prove his fitness and form. Now he is back without having played any match worth its name. How and where the selectors were able to assess his form and fitness, I don’t know. This is not to suggest that he should have been sidelined further, but it only goes to show the whimsical nature in which things work in the world of Pakistan cricket. The chief selector, interestingly, has said that Inzamam was never dropped; he was being rested. I think the chief selector himself needs an extended rest.
WITH a fresh cricket season round the corner, things at home are not quite what they should have been. Though the PCB and its selectors have already announced the probables for the upcoming series against Bangladesh, the manner in which it came about has betrayed some sort of confusion within the system.
