Pakistan’s most popular sport cricket’s fortunes hit rock bottom in the last three years during which time the military government boasted of good governance, accountability and transparency.
Unfortunately all three ingredients have been missing at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headed by Lt Gen Tauqir Zia who took over reins of the board in 1999.
Pakistan cricket suffered because the PCB chief thought himself above board and that he could do no wrong. In fact, Pakistan has become a laughing stock amongst the cricket playing nations.
Maybe his lack of knowledge or over enthusiasm, but the fact is that the PCB supremo destroyed the team which was perhaps one of the best in the world but today is just rated above minnows Bangladesh and lowly Zimbabwe simply due to the decisions taken by him directly or indirectly.
Tauqir cannot blame anyone for the cricket decline as he is all powerful chairman of the board, chief selector, manager, coach and financial wizard all rolled into one.
Anybody who thinks that Tauqir has a team of experts, selectors, coaches, analysts, trainers, psychiatrist, etc is simply living in a fool’s paradise. Everything is done by Tauqir himself.
In his early days he had some advisors but at present he is master of all and needs no expert or advisor. Whether he realises it or not, it is a ground reality and once he bows out of office all those who are at the moment holding important posts will vouch for the fact.
All cricket controversies are centred around him. Sacking of managers, coaches, advisors, selectors all take place on his whims. As a result indiscipline has crept into the team. Everyday one finds one player making a lame excuse of taking rest and then flying to some other country to play for extra financial gains.
The players are not treated at par. There are different rules for different players of the same team which has promoted love and hatred among the players and kills the team spirit.
Some day former great Javed Miandad becomes the blue eyed boy of the PCB chief and then loses grace, then Wasim Akram gets top priority and is dropped, enters Mudassar Nazar and he becomes the hot favourite and then disgraced. One day Shoaib Malik becomes the pinup boy of Pakistan cricket and then thrown out of the team, then Faisal Iqbal becomes favourite to be discarded in the next breath.
Likewise Rashid Latif, Saqlain Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria and host of other players are given top priority on one day and summarily dumped the other day.
This policy of Tauqir has totally shaken the confidence of the players including Saqlain Mushtaq, who is rated as one of the best off-spinners in the world. One day he is dropped and the next day when he is recalled he wins “Man-of-the-Series” award. It happened in the just concluded two-Test series against Zimbabwe.
Earlier, Saqlain and Wasim were dropped from the Asia Cup when Shoaib Malik was having golden days with the PCB and Pakistan lost. Similar is the case of Shahid Afridi, who holds the world record of scoring fastest century in one-day matches.
Shahid’s confidence has been totally shaken. Can anybody with proper frame of mind think that a player who holds the world record sent down the batting order as low as No. 8. In recent times, he batted at No. 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, and one. No psychiatrist can manage to maintain mental equilibrium of any player who is shunted up and down like a goods wagon in a shunting yard.
The PCB chief, is himself responsible for creating disharmony and ill will in the team. How come when Shoaib Akhtar is injured, the PCB at first decides to send the doctor to Zimbabwe but later decides against it.
And when wicketkeeper Rashid Latif is injured he is sent to South Africa and after getting clearance from the South African specialist is recalled to Pakistan by the PCB doctors for final check up and then not allowed to rejoin the team.
This is the most glaring double standard of the PCB chief whether he accepts it or not and whether he likes it or not. It is the ground reality and this kind of double standard has simply shaken the team spirit.
Can the PCB chief, explain the nature of injury to Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul- Haq in the recent past when they were sent home and have been selected for the Zimbabwe tour. Was their injury a political one? It was definitely not an injury which forced the PCB to recall them from Kenya.
Both players were diagnosed with serious injuries and the PCB medical board which went to extent of expressing their doubt about the availability of Inzamam-ul-Haq for the World Cup.
The PCB, got a slap in their face when both Youhana and Inzimam-ul-Haq made miraculous recoveries within a month and proved their fitness by scoring runs. What the PCB chief and the team management or the PCB’s so called medical experts have to say about the injuries.
The latest controversy about the wicket-keeping department has cropped up just when the World Cup is round the corner. Rashid Latif, the other day announced his retirement from Test cricket. It was on the cards as the spineless, chief selector, Wasim Bari, who himself as a wicket-keeper failed to find or make up his mind in naming the best out of Rashid Latif, Moin Khan and Kamran Akmal.
If Bari cannot make up his mind on the selection of wicket- keeper one can safely say he has no say in the team selection and he is simply a rubber stamp. Then the question is who selects the team.? The answer is obvious.
Rashid has announced his retirement because of the treatment he received from the PCB chief and time will prove that Tauqir for quite some time had been using Moin Khan card by inviting him and then not including him in the team. How long a player can stand the black-mailing by the establishment off the field and then perform on the field.
The names sent to World Cup organisers and announced to the press the other day exposed the designs of the PCB selection criteria when Shahid Afridi was named among the all-rounders whereas Shoaib Malik has been selected among the middle order batsmen.
Saleem Elahi has been selected in the openers slot with no proven record. Scoring centuries against Zimbabwe’s club standard attack is no achievement. Saleem was recalled for the African safari from nowhere just with the sole purpose of giving him a chance against the mediocre attack.
As a result of all these one-man decisions, the cricket team stands totally disorganized and disjointed. Nobody knows who will be going to South Africa and who will be leading the team in the World Cup.
If the PCB had any designs or will to win the World Cup or stake claim, it would have by now almost finalised the final 15 and even decided the first playing XI. It would have given the players confidence and given them an opportunity to plan the things in advance and not living in makeshift apartments.