Karachi - Former left-arm bowler Wasim Akram said that the lack of all-rounders in the national side is largely due to an inefficient domestic cricket structure in Pakistan.
The legendary pacer said that the administration of first-class cricket in the country should be held accountable for this. “Why aren’t we grooming such players,” he asked. “What is needed to get things running properly in Pakistan cricket is for a former player to be running things.” “At the moment, Pakistan cricket is in a state of shambles with no continuity and no planning and constant changes to the system,” he added. The former pacer urged Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to invest in the domestic circuit as it they plan to move forward and develop the country’s cricket structure. “PCB makes a lot of money from international cricket and Pakistan Super League,” he said. “A guaranteed percentage of those profits should be invested in domestic cricket instead of letting it rot.”
“More investment needs to be made in A tours and Under 19 tours and more attention given to Under 16 cricket in Pakistan. One positive step is that Mudassar Nazar is back working for the board, but he can’t work his magic straight away, it will take him two or three years to start identifying and grooming that talent.” Pakistan, who were recently beaten by England 4-1 in ODI series after drawing the Test series 2-2, are currently ranked ninth in International Cricket Council’s (ICC) one-day rankings. And the former pacer termed this nothing short of “embarrassing”. “It’s totally embarrassing that we are now just one place above Afghanistan and it looks like for the first time in our history we will have to play in the qualifiers for the next World Cup,” he said.
“We are not getting the basics right in our ODI cricket and obvious things like the batting order are being messed up. We need to give our players an opportunity and really invest in them.”
Speaking of players’ lack of fitness, Wasim said, “How can we expect our cricketers to become world-beaters when even their dietary requirements are being ignored and they are given biryani for lunch in domestic matches.”
