KARACHI:
Pakistan cricket team’s comprehensive loss against Afghanistan has made it apparent that the entire structure of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) needs to be overhauled. This gentleman’s game has become a victim of greed ever since Kerry Packer’s intrusion. There is no justification for the politicisation of sports in general and cricket in particular.
The PCB chairman should be apolitical whose appointment and retaining that position should be strictly based on performance. The governing body must be completely changed and the same faces should not return. Why did PCB hire a Chief Coach who is not available on the field for all events? Sports coaches need to be involved on the field during training sessions, pre or post-match briefings and strategy planning. Former cricketers with a tarnished record implicating them in match-fixing should never have any role in managing PCB affairs.
PCB must exercise control over players who are offered handsome contracts and urge them to not over-exert themselves in foreign county/league contracts, especially when the Pakistan Super League has become a regular annual tournament. Unfortunately, the glamour of cricket, foreign tours and the financial budget of PCB has become a liability instead of an asset to improve the game. Political interference and clout in the selection of the PCB chairman have further affected the quality of the team. Player power must be curtailed and discipline should be enforced. Perhaps PCB needs someone like Majid Khan who, apart from being a good batsman, was an educated person and carried no baggage.
Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2023.
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