I AM not too sure with how much interest the people are following the One-Day series against Bangladesh, if they are watching it at all. A series of five such games is a bit too much and I think it would have been infinitely better to limit it to three.
One amazing thing I have noticed during the series is the way it has been scheduled. All the Test matches were scheduled to end on Sundays, when there was hardly a chance that Bangladesh will be bale to take the game into the fifth day. The same is the case with the One-Day games none of which thus far has been played on a Sunday. There must be some logic behind such scheduling, but, frankly speaking, it is beyond me.
Also beyond me is the ongoing saga around Junaid Zia, the son of PCB iron man Tauqir Zia. That his very inclusion in the national squad was under controversial circumstances is known to all. Even though he has failed to impress anyone with his mediocre talent, he continues to get a spot on the playing lineup. All of a sudden, the PCB and its bunch of selectors seem to have abandoned the idea of giving exposure to fresh faces on a rotational basis. For his spot, the chief selector does not appear to be interested in generating four players of “equal competence” which had been his avowed policy till he named Junaid in the squad.
I fail to understand what has impressed the chief selector more; Junaid’s talent or his lineage. Whatever it is, he found it appropriate to name him the captain of the Pakistan junior squad, a decision that was so blatantly wrong that even Tauqir Zia had to intervene and reverse it. While it confirms that the chief selector, and of course his honourable colleagues on the committee, are eternally more loyal than the king himself, it is anybody’s guess about the message the whole episode must have sent around the relevant circles.
If this is the sense of merit that prevails in the corridors of PCB headquarters, no one should be surprised at the downward slide that appears to have become the fate of the national squad. I recently read in the newspapers a statement by national coach Javed Miandad to the effect that Pakistan cricket’s future was “dangerously dark.” Though I tend to agree with him, I do not know why he cannot go to his boss and tell him why it is so. After all, he is a vital part of whatever is going on.
The coach is not happy with things, the captain is serving a five-match ban for wilful deception, the chief selector’s decision is being overturned publicly by the chairman, the chief executive is busy with his commentary assignments and ICC meetings, and all this while players like Junaid Zia are making merry at the expense of national pride and prestige.
None among them seem to be bothered about what kind of image we are conveying to the world about our capacity to manage our cricket at even a remotely professional level. Equally, it does not make any of them feel bad about what message they are passing on to the youngsters. Merit having been thrown out of the window, the youngsters are being encouraged to use means other than talent to get into the frame. ‘Whom do you know’ is certainly more important than ‘what do you know’. If things continue like this, the national coach’s prediction about Pakistan’s “dangerously dark” future will certainly come true.
I AM not too sure with how much interest the people are following the One-Day series against Bangladesh, if they are watching it at all. A series of five such games is a bit too much and I think it would have been infinitely better to limit it to three.
