RAWALPINDI - Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) mismanagement was at peak on the opening day of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test at Pindi Stadium on Wednesday.
As international cricket was returning to the country after a decade, it was expected that the PCB would ensure proper arrangements during the Sri Lanka tour after learning from their past mistakes. It was in their knowledge that international media will arrive at the stadium and keep close eye on the arrangements to find reasons for damaging the great event, but the board could not make proper arrangements for the historical event and image of the country.
After arrival of PCB’s new management and seasoned journalist Sami-ul-Hasan as Media Director, it was hoped that the board’s mafia would be dealt strictly and sports journalists would be given their due rights while fake sports journalists would be shown the doors. But the things were not managed as expected, as prior to start of the game, irrelevant persons were handed accreditation cards and many genuine sports journalists were deprived of their right to cover the event.
The media centre of the stadium was presenting the look of fish market, as irrelevant persons were making noise and disturbing the genuine local and international journalists, who were doing their official duties. The situation became so worst that the foreigners especially Sri Lankan journalists stood up from their chairs, hit their desks and requested the irrelevant persons to let them perform their duties peacefully. The internet at the media centre was also not working, which forced Lankan journalists to leave for their hotels to complete their tasks. The issues remained unattended till the stumps, as there was no one to manage these things.
When this scribe contacted Sami-ul-Hasan regarding these issues, he replied: “I do not have words to explain. I have noticed all the shortcomings on part of the PCB. The Internet cable was damaged from different locations and it could not be fixed till late hours. It was very first event at the Pindi Stadium after a long gap. I have taken into account all the grey areas and I ensure that these issues will be resolved.”