Paish-e-Lafz festival: Delving into the world of cricket

Speakers suggest ways to improve gentleman’s game in Pakistan

KARACHI:

In order to create a positive impact through creative dialogues and panel discussions, students of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist) organised a literary festival 'Paish-e-Lafz' on Saturday at The Second Floor (T2F).

The one-day festival celebrated writing, cricket and film-making by hosting writers and thinkers of international repute from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The opening session of the festival, 'The Boys Played Well', focused on how to bring back international cricket to Pakistan and make the national cricket team perform better.



Speaking about how foreign coaches can help the team perform better, former cricketer Shoaib Muhammad said foreign coaches should  have been brought to the country in the past. "The players could have learnt from them a long time ago, instead of hiring them now when the team is below zero ground and not performing at all," Muhammad explained.

He questioned how anyone could expect a foreign coach to implement new ideas in a team which has not developed an understanding from the beginning. "Bringing local trainers can give better outcomes," he said, adding that it will take a lot of time for new coach Mickey Arthur to bring in drastic changes in the team's performance.

Describing Pakistan's middle order as among the best in the world, journalist Ahmer Naqvi was of the view that any coach would need specialised training to make things better and bring stability. Comparing the country's political situation to its cricket performance, he said, "We are in a state of war and our players are playing cricket in this [difficult] era". He also pointed out that the Indian Premier League started in 2008, while the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan occurred in 2009, after which the team's exposure was almost zero. He said the Indian team has emerged as one of the best due to their exposure to the game.



Disagreeing with Muhammad and Naqvi's view regarding specialised or local coaches, former cricketer Sikander Bakht said instead of any other changes in the team and management, there is a dire need of professional and specialised coaches for under-19 teams.

He also suggested that a law be implemented in the cricket board that relatives of officials should not be allowed to play, nor should any player's relatives be given administrative charge.

Bakht also stressed on the revival of school cricket, giving the example of how recently a student in India scored 1,000 runs in a one-day match, whereas none of the professional cricket players present in the audience had played a 50-over match in the last ten years. "If we do not play 50-over matches then how will we learn?" he asked, adding that T-20 matches have ruined new talent in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2016.