With Rameez’s departure, adhocism has claimed its latest victim
No, not the Olympics, although the entire world is focused on them, except those whose ‘be all and end all’ is the intense world of cricket in Pakistan.
They are those who are about to witness the beginning of another age-old game associated with cricket, that of musical chairs which rapidly transforms into a witch hunt leading on to the grand finale titled ‘heads will roll!’
Strange isn’t it that not too long ago we were told that everything was hunky-dory, the PCB had everything under control, great things were in store for the game and the Board’s kitty was awash with wealth accumulated through deals struck with sponsors and TV channels. Now all of a sudden everything unravels, and we are being regaled with tales of deceptions and dark deeds that have suddenly surfaced after the loss of a series and demands for retribution and punishment, even invoking the ‘dreaded’ Exit Control List!
Granted that we are a nation with a penchant for conspiracy theories and a loss against arch rivals India was a bit too difficult for the cricket lovers to stomach, all the friendly overtures at different levels notwithstanding, but to have to answer for it before a Senate Committee seemed a case of overkill! In a country where the team selection is a task every paan walla and dhabey walla feels qualified to do, everyone knows that majority of the slots are filled automatically, with the selection committee poring over lists to fill the two or three which need some ‘selection.’
The team selected by that very Committee pulls off exciting wins, and in the next outing, fails, rises again only to be overcome by an opposition that played better on the day. And we have the highest body in the country whose members are sitting there thanks to the tax payer’s money and doing precious little to solve their’s and the teeming masses’ problems, crying blue murder!
Really? Talk about skewed priorities! Here is not to question the legal right of the Senate to call into question the workings of an independent body, but the question is about what merits the attention of the legislators. Will tomorrow see them questioning some soap manufacturer for a failed marketing campaign or pan supari wala for a drop in their profits? There is universal education in the country, total healthcare coverage, clean water in all nooks and corners, etc. etc. etc. And now they have turned their attention to the affairs of the Cricket Board?
This is a Board which boasts of an embarrassing history of ad hocism and of being subservient to the whims of individuals instead of a system given to it by a Constitution that has been relegated to cold storage. Its elected people are made out to be the black sheep, while the top management changes is where the musical chair takes place, and has been taking place for the past five years with impunity, totally overturning the meaning of the word ad hoc.
This has been the real malaise in the PCB’s working. For an independent Corporation that is listed with the Securities & Exchange Commission and Corporate Law Authority, its General Body, made up of elected people, should be the one demanding accountability, and ‘meting out punishment.’
This business of appointing honorary officials, all at the top, must really come to stop and professional management inducted, on the pattern of the other cricket boards. The proceedings and decisions must be transparent, and open to debate and discussion, and accountability. It is very well to have been a part of the system for a considerable period of time, a party to decisions either by acceptance or acquiescence and then spill the beans so to say, once out of the loop.
The cricketing fraternity is all abuzz at the departure of the CEO of PCB, Ramiz Raja, someone who could do no wrong until just a few days ago, and whose wearing of many hats didn’t seem like a conflict of interest. Suddenly he has been transformed into the villain-in-chief, and the new Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, his chief aide and abettor. All the financial bunglings have surfaced suddenly because the treasurer decided to part company and now accusations are flying thick and fast.
It is still not clear whether Ramiz let of his own accord or was asked to leave because of his television commitments. It is not clear either what proved to be the last straw on the treasurer’s back, because some of the ‘non-transparent’ decisions he has cited in his letter, date quite far back. So what stopped him from leaving if he had been giving dissenting notes and they were being repeatedly disregarded?
Majority of the people connected with the game in Pakistan, be they players, officials, associations and the media, aside from the cricket lovers in general, had issues with Ramiz and his wearing of so many hats while heading the PCB an organization that is supposed to be running this burgeoning ‘industry’ that the game of cricket has become.
They had issues with the current Chairman too, for the way he had been a party to the sidelining of the elected representatives who had been responsible for the growth and development of the game in the country and one could see him opening up fronts right left and center because of the attitude of the ruling clique of the game. Allegations of cronyism of those close to him in the hierarchy didn’t seem to faze him, and all this has now come to haunt him. Which is what happens during a witch hunt!
He seems to be between the devil and the deep sea as he cannot tell the Senate committee to take a hike as he is heading an independent corporation, simply because he is not running it as such. As the musical chairs begin, he will need all his diplomatic skills to get out of this sticky spot. But indications are that we are headed towards the grand finale, where heads will roll once again!
And what of cricket in the meantime? Well, like Pakistan, it will hopefully continue to thrive despite these goings on, and the next point of interest will be who now fills the chair at the end of the game.
With Rameez’s departure, adhocism has claimed its latest victim 
