Daily Times

When Pakistan collapsed to 105 all out in 16.3 overs against New Zealand’s attack at Mount Maunganui-their lowest T20 total against all nations-it wasn’t just a defeat. It was the latest nadir in a heartbreaking decline from the ferocious Cornered Tigers to a side that now plays like declawed kittens. A 3-1 series loss, sealed with a match to spare, punctuated by chaotic batting and toothless bowling, is no longer an anomaly. It’s symptomatic of a system rotting at its core.

The PCB’s obsession with musical chairs has reduced the captaincy to a farce. Since Babar Azam’s controversial sacking in 2023, Pakistan has cycled through three captains in 18 months. Shaheen Afridi, hailed as a saviour, now looks burdened by a team with no coherent identity. Salman Agha’s damning post-match admission speaks volumes: a captaincy stripped of authority, a squad stripped of belief.

The cricketing dysfunction mirrors its governance: reactive, nepotistic, and allergic to accountability. The PCB’s favourite scapegoats (player burnout, pitch conditions) ring hollow when the real issue is a domestic structure rotting from neglect. While India’s IPL-honed stars dominate globally, our First-Class system remains a relic of the 1990s, producing players ill-equipped for modern demands.

The selectors’ schizophrenia continues unabated. Promising leg-spinners whose PSL performance screams potential warm benches while those with laughable form are excused as experience. Meanwhile, veterans, retired and re-retired, are parachuted into squads as if nostalgia alone can mask institutional decay.

Empty stands during the Rawalpindi T20Is screamed louder than any statistic. Shaheens’ cricket, once a unifying force, now deepens national disillusionment.

Despite the fast-plunging appeal, it wouldn’t be wrong (even today) to claim that in our part of the world, cricket enjoys a status far more esteemed than a street sport. It embodies the soul of a nation. To salvage it, the PCB must abandon its addiction to knee-jerk theatrics and commit to stability: a captain trusted for at least two years, a domestic structure rebuilt from dusty grounds up, and a selection policy that rewards hunger over hierarchy. The choice is simple: revive the Tigers or bury the kittens. *