By Khalid Hussain
GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Pakistani cricket administrators had planned to quash rising ‘mullaism’ within the national team through strict measures after the World Cup.
A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official confided in ‘The News’ that the Board had decided to interfere in the team matters after growing reports that most of the players were too focused on praying and preaching and had put their primary job which was to play cricket on the back seat.
According to the official who requested anonymity, the plans were shelved until after the World Cup in order to avoid stirring up the hornet’s nest before or during the most important assignment of the year — the World Cup.
However, Pakistan’s shock exit from the opening round of the World Cup and the shocking murder of their coach Bob Woolmer in a Kingston hotel during the tournament left the PCB officials looking for cover.
Dr Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, resigned after Pakistan’s stunning defeat against Ireland though his resignation was later rejected by President Pervez Musharraf, the Board’s chief patron.
The uncertainty that prevailed within the national cricket fraternity after Pakistan’s humiliating World Cup defeat forced the Board’s plans to curb ‘religious extremism’ to slip down on its list of priorities.
However, the official said that once the PCB manages to overcome the current crisis, it would come down hard on the players whom it believes have allowed their religious beliefs to come in the way of team interest in recent times.
“Being religious is a good thing because it makes you more disciplined but when it gets out of hand it can affect the overall interest of the team,” said the official. “That is precisely what happened with the Pakistan team and the Board would assure that things are brought under control in future,” he added.
The culture in the Pakistani dressing room changed from being moderately religious to the sort of atmosphere you would find in a gathering of Raiwind preachers under the captaincy of Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Visiting mosques and Islamic centres on foreign tours topped the agenda for most of the team members. It became so regular that the Pakistani foreign ministry had to ask the Board to minimise it during the team’s tour of England last summer in a bid to avoid media criticism in the wake of the London train bombings which were blamed on Muslim extremists by the British authorities.
It was believed that at times Inzamam would pick or drop players from the team on the basis of their religious beliefs and if cricketers did not pray or showed interest in growing beards, they were disliked and even sidelined by the captain.
Soon after taking over as PCB chief last October, Dr Ashraf had said that he would not tolerate such a culture in the Pakistan dressing room but backed out after getting an angry reaction from some of the players especially Inzamam.
According to the official, at that time Inzamam was too influential and the PCB wanted to avoid any major confrontation especially with the World Cup just five months away. “There is no such problem now because the World Cup is over and Inzamam has failed to deliver. He and other players will have to face the consequences,” he explained. The PCB has already suspended the central contracts of the Pakistani team players and has announced that an accountability process would soon begin following the World Cup disaster.
Source: The News
Rana has grown a beard - is that a reason why he kept on getting selected? Others such as Asim Kamal already had beard but still didn’t get selected. I am not sure what the reality or truth is.