In fact, Pakistan's recent string of defeats in international cricket — 10 in a row — makes one wonder who is following whom. Unfortunate though it may sound, this is how bad it is. The worst part is that it is getting worse by the day. The team may win here and there, but the reason behind such victories is almost always some individual performance out of the blue — somebody in the lower order coming up with a grand batting display, or a frontline batsman doing some damage with his part-time bowling.

It is rare to see a Pakistan victory based on planning or laced with someone's sense of responsibility. This is exactly how things used to be in hockey a couple of decades ago and this is why it makes for a relevant example to learn a lesson from.The young generation may not know much about it, but Pakistan was the global powerhouse in hockey for almost a quarter of a century, starting with the 1960 Rome Olympics and finishing with the 1984 edition of the Games at Los Angeles. During this phase, Pakistan won every possible title the Asian Games, the World Cup, the Champions Trophy as well as multi-nation festivals and bilateral series that were common in those days.

The Gold at Rome, however, was the victory of a nation on the rise. The team had won Silver at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 and Gold at the Tokyo Asian Games in 1958. In contrast, the 1984 victory was the last hurrah of a team that had been on a slide for some time. It had finished off the victory stand at two consecutive editions of Champions Trophy — Karachi 1981 and Amstelveen 1982 — which was something hard to believe at the time. The team recovered to win the World Cup and the Asian title in 1982, but was struggling as it entered the Los Angeles Olympics where the Australians under Rick Charlesworth were the hot favourites.

Absolutely thrilling though they were, Pakistan's victories at the knockout stage of the tournament were clearly against the run of play. Since then, Pakistan has won only three titles in the last 26 years — the Asian Games in 1990 and the twin victories in 1994 in the shape of the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.

In the last dozen years, losses against sides like New Zealand, China and Japan have been a common feature; and finishing among the top-ten has become a rarity which is sometimes even used as a success story by the PHF.

While players do take the blame for such a pathetic show, no one can deny the simple fact that the rot first set in within the corridors of the Pakistan Hockey Federation. Nur Khan is said to be the last visionary who ruled the PHF. His two tenures are marked by victories and his departure in the mid-'80s has seen a disgraceful decline.

But not everyone agrees. According to a former national captain, Nur Khan's policies actually destroyed the game in the country. “It is ironic that in public perception the team was winning when Nur Khan was in control and started going down when he left the scene.

In my honest and sincere opinion, the team was on a high during his tenure because of the past momentum, and went down because his passion of making everyone uncertain destroyed the spirit and failed to generate any momentum of its own,” he wrote in his recently published autobiography, quoting a number of episodes that present Nur Khan as a whimsical head with a bloated ego.

The lengthy episode that the former captain has penned about Pakistan's campaign at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina seems to suggest that the PHF supremo could be so whimsical that he could even go against the interest of the team.

While Nur Khan's role remains a matter of debate, it does underline the fact that mismanagement has caused Pakistan Hockey dearly; the biggest loss being in the shape of talent scarcity which is inevitable when the national team stops performing well at the international level. Youngsters have lost interest and the game is all but dead.

It is a lesson that Pakistan Cricket needs to learn in a hurry. The team is not doing enough to keep the youth engrossed. If they lose interest, the future will only be more problematic; not less.