Daily Times

Once again hunt is on to find out a scapegoat for putting all the blame for the team’s failure in the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup 2016. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is again in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Cricket has become highly politicised issue in Pakistan. The selection of Shahid Afridi as the captain of the team is being termed controversial due to his reckless attitude and careless style of batting. It is not merely about Shahid Afridi but it is to noted that the whole cricket structure at the national level is crumbling. The tragedy with the Pakistan cricket team is that it has to fight at a number of fronts besides facing rival teams. It has to sustain unnecessary as well as irresponsible media hype, poor handling of cricket affairs by the management, selection problems, players’ internal rifts, and last but not the least pressure from almost 180 million cricket lovers who cannot accept defeat and are always ready to humiliate players if they fail to perform. In this situation, a captain’s responsibility becomes very tough, especially when he himself does not have the capability to lead the team with example. The tag of unpredictability itself creates difficulty for the team to give its 100 percent in the match. There is a lack of maturity and planning on the part of those sitting at the helm of affairs of cricket. Everyone is busy passing the buck to absolve oneself from all the responsibility. There is a lack of professionalism on part of the management as well as players.

Every defeat carries a lesson and we should be positive in our approach. Pakistan needs to develop a sportsman spirit. There is a need to reorganise the domestic cricket structure at the local level. The PCB must focus on the team’s flaws related to batting and fielding that caused its failure in the World Cup. There is no dearth of talent in Pakistan. There is a need to channelise the potential positively. The PCB and the nation need to change their approach for reviving the game of cricket in Pakistan. It has become a norm in Pakistan that senior players are humiliated at the end of their careers, whereas all senior players must be given an honourable send-off. The PCB should carry out an overall scrutiny of the team and focus on its weaknesses. There must be a restraint on uncalled-for media hype that plays havoc with the morale of the team. The whole team needs proper coaching on modern lines; mandatory sessions should be held to train and educate young cricketers. We need to build cricket nurseries where future players could be groomed and nurtured for the growth of this gentleman’s game in Pakistan. *