Departmental cricket

In a revolt of sorts, cricket legend Javed Miandad has come out openly against Imran Khan’s long-professed vision about domestic cricket in the country. Khan has been a fierce opponent of departments-based domestic cricket structure and has, since his cricketing days, called for domestic competitions among teams representing the various regions of the country. He has always believed that Karachi playing against Lahore, for instance, would be a game keenly contested by players on the two sides, and draw bigger and more enthusiastic crowds, thereby serving to lift the standards of domestic cricket in the country. Now as PM, Khan appears to be pushing through his vision for domestic cricket in the country. He is reported to have instructed PCB chief Ehsan Mani to put an end to the departments’ part in the cricket edifice. While Mani’s attempts at remodeling domestic cricket in line with the PM’s vision first met with resistance from the PCB’s board of governors, it has now found a cricket hero, of no less repute and stature than Khan, coming out in opposition.

Miandad has put his weight behind the proponents of a domestic cricket structure run by banks and other businesses concerns — in what comes up as a rebellion from somebody who had been Khan’s highly-valued and hugely-trusted teammate during their days in the field. Flanked by squash icon Jehangir Khan and hockey legend Islahuddin Siddiqui, Miandad held a press conference in Karachi to highlight the ‘important’ role of departments in sports, insisting that it was during the days of departmental support to sports that Pakistan won laurels in cricket, hockey and squash. What is, however, completely forgotten in this whole debate is a reference to the changing face of cricket, marked by professional leagues. The IPL and the PSL have proved that it is the money that drives the players to pour energy into the game by keeping themselves fit and fine — something that, in turn, lifts the standard of the game.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2019.

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