The Cricketer with Mansoor Ahmed
Over the years we have seen army generals, diplomats and now a doctor trying to run one of the most important organizations in Pakistan, the Pakistan Cricket Board.
For a short while, we saw Ramiz Raja at the helm who brought Bob Woolmer in as a coach and Pakistan reached as high as number 2 in Test and ODI rankings.
I’m not sure who is part of PCB at present, but they all seem be clueless. They made a fool of themselves and the nation when handling Shoaib and Asif‚s drugs issue. Daryl Hair made a monkey of them, then the Bob Woolmer fiasco at the world cup and subsequent statements by the Media Manager‚ P J Mir were nothing but sheer embarrassment. It seems that they have not learnt and are intent on making blunder after blunder.
When Inzamam ul Haq returned from world cup, the PCB seemed determined to disgrace Pakistan’s most successful captain, and make him a scapegoat. He is still by far the best batsman in Pakistan, someone who absorbs pressure like a sponge. But they felt that Misbah ul Haq, who has failed on numerous occasions for Pakistan, is more talented to receive a central contract. Then they felt that Mohammed Yousuf was too slow in the field and Abdul Razzak’s pace had dropped, hence not suitable for Twenty20 World Cup. All three of them have since decided to join the Indian Cricket League on lucrative contracts.
But PCB are still not happy, initially they are threatening to ban these players for life but now they are trying to lure Yousuf back by offering him more money. Does this mean that players like Shoaib, Asif and Afridi, who rejected ICL offers, will be on the same money but Yousuf will get substantially more?
People like Inzamam and Mohammed Yousuf are not born every day. Such greats must be treated with respect and allowed to choose their own fate. If they wish to play Twenty20 or Test cricket and not ODI, we must honour their desire, not just eject them out of the team because the donkeys who run Pakistan Cricket don’t know how to handle them. PCB needs to learn from the Australian Cricket Board, it’s not much to ask, is it?
