What’s the matter with Pakistan cricket?

Albert Einstein once famously said ldquoInsanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different resultsrdquo Einstein must have been a cricket fan as the above quote perfectly sums up the actions of everything related to Pakistan cricketIf you have watched Pakistan menrsquos cricket since the 1980s you might struggle to come to terms with the current state of affairs Donrsquot get me wrong Pakistan cricket has always been a child of inconsistency and infighting but amongst all the chaos there were still enough glimpses of brilliance to keep reminding the rest of the world about their skills and talent During a commentary stint England captainturnedcommentator Nasser Hussain once came up with this gem ldquoPakistan cricket at its best One minute down next minute uprdquo Sadly as of today Pakistan cricket is only downRecently following their horror show as defending champions in the ICC Champions Trophy where they lost both their games to NZ and India the Mohd Rizwanled touring Pakistan side were overwhelmed 03 by the Black CapsPakistan cricket captain Babar Azam reacts while fielding during the 2023 World Cup ODI match against Australia in Bengaluru PicsGetty ImagesThe T20 series in which Pakistan were led by Salman Agha was disastrous as well the home team winning 41 One thought that the absence of the NZ regulars would even up the playing field and provide a good contest but apart from the T20I in Auckland Pakistan just didnrsquot turn upPolitics is not my forte but unfortunately the coefficient of correlation between politics and cricket in Pakistan has always been close to one When a democracy has two centres of power the elected government and the military there is bound to be turbulence In the last 14 years Pakistan cricket has seen 11 board presidents Over that same period Pakistan has seen 15 different captains and 14 different coaches across the three formats Constant changes create an atmosphere of uncertainty How can someone perform consistently if they are constantly unsure of their own positionOver the years there have been numerous examples of internal differences coming in the way of national interest in Pakistan cricket be it the MiandadImran relationship or the WasimWaqar relationship The latest example was the omission of Imran Khan from an official PCB video released last year on Pakistanrsquos Independence Day to pay homage to the countryrsquos cricket legends and milestones After facing backlash from fans and the entire cricketing community the video was deleted and then rereleased after adding Imranrsquos image If this is the kind of treatment given to arguably the best cricketer Pakistan has ever produced then what more can you sayPakistan player Mohammad Rizwan is bowled by Jasprit Bumrah during the T20 World Cup match in New York in June 2024The luxury of watching cricket on TV is amazing but if you want to inspire the next generation of cricketers there is no substitute for watching your heroes perform live at a stadium Not being able to play international cricket at home for over 10 years from 2009 to 2019 was a huge setback the effects of which will take a long time to be neutralisedIn the past when Pakistan teams travelled overseas they had talented individuals capable of performing in all conditions Batters like Javed Miandad Saeed Anwar InzamamulHaq Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf had the technique and the temperament to score runs in all conditions Pace bowlers like Wasim Akram Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar were a threat anywhere in the world Allrounders like Imran Shahid Afridi Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood provided the vital balance to the teams that they were a part of whereas spinners like Abdul Qadir Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq never relied on the surface to pick up wicketsIn the current era apart from Babar Azam nobody seems to have the technique to survive let alone score runs in all conditions The pace bowlers arrive with a lot of promise but tend to fizzle out after the rigours of a season or two at the international level Bitsandpieces cricketers claiming to be allrounders get horribly exposed at the highest level The spin bowling cupboard is so bare that in the recent Test series victory over England Pakistan had to recall the 38yearold Noman Ali and 31yearold Sajid Khan and play on used wickets to force a result in their favour In the recent T20I and ODI series in New Zealand the batters were totally out of their depth in trying to deal with the swing seam and bounce whereas the bowlers never found the right line or length to be effectiveI have met several cricketers who genuinely love playing in the Pakistan Super League It is probably the only shining star amongst all the doom and gloom in Pakistan cricket This year though because of shoddy planning it is being played at the same time as the IPL which means that international players who would have normally played in both tournaments have now had to choose one over the othermdashpicking the IPL is a nobrainer Yet again it is Pakistan cricket that suffersHere is my fivepoint plan for waking Pakistan cricket from the coma it currently finds itself in1 Elect administrators fairly and once elected give them the stability of a fixed term2 Give responsibility and ask for accountability at all levels3 Strengthen domestic cricket It is the only way to produce quality cricketers4 Select players solely on merit5 Stop the constant chopping and changing of captains and coaches If you appoint them give them the time required to execute their plansIn the last 14 years Pak has seenhellip11PCB presidents15Captains14CoachesWhat ails Pakistan cricketlsquoHuge chasm between domestic and intrsquol cricketrsquoShahid Hashmi Senior journalistThere are varied problems hurting Pakistan cricket Frequent changes in the Pakistan Cricket Board PCB is an old problem but a recent one is the huge chasm between domestic cricket and international cricket that is exposing players Normally once a player performs at the domestic level he is groomed at lsquoArsquo level series This is nearly nonexistent in Pakistan In the last three years there was no effort made to form a bench and the same players were given chances like in musical chairsPakistan will have to do shortterm and longterm planning to make this team strong by following the latest methods and improve domestic cricket in the longterm The task is tortuous and patience is not something that is associated with Pakistan cricket Also merit and honesty are extinct in our system and cricket is areflection of the societylsquoTherersquos inconsistency in our systemrsquoAbdul Majid Bhatti Senior journalistThe main reason for the state Pakistan cricket finds itself is inconsistency in our system Till 2022 everything was okay but since the T20 World Cup in Australia when Pakistan lost to India we have had four PCB chairmen eight selectors and four coachesThe coaches do not have enough time to work things out Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie resigned in a few weeks Mickey Arthur and Grant Bradburn didnrsquot get much time eitherWhen the PCB chairmen change the whole system gets derailed Rameez Raja came in with his own team When Najam Sethi came he appointed his own coaches and removed Rameez Rajarsquos coachesIn 2019 when Imran Khan was Prime Minister we said that Pakistan is playing firstclass cricket on the basis of the Australian system That system didnrsquot work When Sethi came that system changed So there is so much inconsistency in domestic cricketWe have to bring in professional and good foreign coaches Sometimes we have compromised on fitnessMost decisions have been lopsided For example when we had to make changes in the ODI cricket setup we effected changes in the T20 team The changing of captains is another factor which has caused Pakistan cricket to come crashing downThe policies of the PCB have been proved to be wrong time and again There is inconsistency in the system and the Pakistan team along with the countryrsquos cricket is suffering at every levelIt will take Pakistan cricket two to three years to rebuild but for that to happen the domestic system must get a filliplsquoThere is unchallenged nepotismrsquoQamar Ahmed Veteran writer and broadcasterNonelected people are running the game with no previous record of being in the game in any capacityThere is unchallenged nepotism Same old faces become selectors advisors with no results to show Adding to the mess is the poor standard of domestic cricket which keeps changing its format with no system in place Once the socalled selectors send their selected names of players to the PCB and the bureaucrat CEO the teamgets changed without the knowledge of the selectorsThe PCB has no credibility When I was offered to represent it in the ICC during the late 1980s I declined knowing fully well the discrimination that existedon provincial basisInfighting and groupism has been the bane of Pakistan cricket The late president Pervez Musharraf who was patron of the PCB once told me that he asked two PCB chiefs to quit because one ensured his son played for Pakistan in an ODI and the other was promoting player powerRemember how InzamamulHaq refused to take the field at the Oval in 2006atOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params