The Current State of Pakistan Cricket
The problems for Pakistan cricket started the day it won the 1992 world in Australia, as that was the day Imran Khan, Pakistan’s most successful captain ended his career. Imran had single handedly picked and trained a bunch a street cricketers into world champions and introduced a level of consistency into the side which had been lacking for so long.
Imran rejected the ad hoc system which had been in place and he himself became the captain, the selection committee and player, in fact he was Pakistan cricket. He plucked out the likes of Wasim, Waqar and Inzamam from oblivion and placed them into the world arena where they did not let him down. He had an eye for talent and he proved it. But little did he know that he was in fact laying the foundations for the demise of Pakistan cricket in the future, as it was him who had introduced the concept of player power.
During his playing years no one could question Imran’s intentions, he loves Pakistan and is very patriotic and his many articles and interviews are a testament to that.
The worst thing that Imran did after winning the world cup in 1992 was to leave cricket. But then again who can blame him, building a cancer hospital to save lives is a lot more important than cricket and I sincerely commend his efforts of building the hospital. May Allah reward him for his efforts, Insha-Allah. When Imran left, the team which he had built virtually selected itself and it was also led very well by Javed Miandad for a few years and was arguably the best team in the world in 1996-1997. Had Imran taken up a role within Pakistan Cricket after his retirement, surely Pakistan would not in the state it is now.
The problems, however, began when Miandad departed and Salim Malik took over. Of course no system had been put in place for the long-term development of Pakistan cricket as the results were good and the team was winning as if by habit.
Player power was still prevalent in Pakistan cricket but now the players at the helm were not patriots or even honest individuals. Salim Malik was and is as proved by the Justice Qayyum report a very selfish, greedy and cunning individual who sold out on his nation in preference to money.
On his departure Wasim Akram took over the reigns. Wasim was seen as the natural successor who was set to emulate the feats of the great Khan. After all they were both good mates, both were great all rounders and both had the potential to change the course of any match.
But the greatest difference between the two was that whereas Imran is an Oxford University graduate who possessed that certain aura that when he spoke, the audience listened and most of what he did say he meant and on the whole he was honest. Whereas Akram is, as we now know via the Qayyum report, a greedy, money-loving and two-faced individual who simply prostituted himself by fixing matches. Maybe I am insulting the prostitutes of the world as it is too kind a word to use in this instance - a prostitute sells herself, she does not sell the hopes and aspirations of millions of people who wake up in the middle of the night to listen to the commentary and follow their team playing on the other side of the world.
All the players named in the Qayyum report should have been banned for life and publicly humiliated – in fact I would tie them all up under Minar-e-Pakistan and get everyone to throw eggs and tomatoes at them and then jail them! Their crime is that of treason and should be dealt as such. But I believe the PCB decided to follow the lead set by Australia in dealing with their criminals (Mark Waugh and Shane Warne), it is sad that we followed the lead of a country which was initially built to house criminals.
This player power system which worked so wonderfully with Imran and Javed Miandad, has now come to haunt Pakistan cricket, because the players named in the Qayyum report do not have the best interest of Pakistan at heart, they are simply in it to fill their own pockets with haram money, which effectively makes them Haramis (immoral earners). But what is even more astonishing is the toothlessness of the PCB. Everyone knows that the players mentioned in the Qayyum report are corrupt and will continue to fix matches as Javed Miandad had claimed as recently as 3 months ago after the New Zealand tour, which resulted in his removal as the national coach, the PCB bowing to player power yet again!
These players are convicted criminals, none of them have challenged the findings or claimed their innocence after the report was published, as I am sure if they did we will realize that Qayyum report has been in fact very kind to these crooks.
Player power has now taken over to such an extent that now it is the players and not the PCB who decide who they want as coach, when they want to practice or when they want to play. I totally believe the reports that most of the players who returned from the New Zealand tour had in fact feigned their injuries because they could not see eye-to-eye with Javed Miandad. What I find amazing is that the team which was brimming with youngsters in the first test, which they won so convincingly were replaced by the same criminals again who had sold their souls in the past and all the evidence points to the fact that the 3rd test was indeed fixed too! Wasim is coming towards the end of his career, cricket has made him a superstar and earned him a lot of money, I feel he wants to make a little more money before he retires, by any means necessary – is there no end to this man’s greed?
It is not Miandad’s fault if the senior players feel they are bigger than Pakistan cricket itself and decide not to listen or feel that they do not need to practice or will only practice when they feel like it, but instead deliberately lose matches to prove their point. This is when the PCB needed to step in and kick these criminals out of Pakistan Cricket, as they certainly do not have the best interests of their nation at heart, but again and again the PCB concedes to the wishes and demands of the senior players who clearly have no love for Pakistan whatsoever. Pakistan is not short of raw talent and I feel within a matter of 2-3 years we can build a squad of truly world-class performers, but first of all the PCB needs to stop bowing to these haramis and punish them for the crimes that they have committed against Pakistan.
My request to the PCB is: ‘Please kick out every single player named in the Qayyum report and lets start the rebuilding process, I would much rather lose with a bunch of youngsters who I know are giving 100% everytime than win with a team who only give 50% most of the time.’