KARACHI - Pakistan’s most successful cricket captain and the best all-rounder that this country had produced Mushtaq Muhammad has hoped the cricket relations between Pakistan and India will restore on long term basis soon and suggested naming the Pakistan India Test series whenever it is played as Indo-Pak Cup.
Mushtaq, who has settled down in England recently, went to India as a guest to witness some matches of the recently concluded Pak-India series. Speaking to his old time cricket friends on various cricket issues at a private gathering held by his former Eaglets colleague Ahmed Mustafa here on Saturday, he said: “Relations between the two countries warmed-up when Pakistan went on a short tour of India. Not only cricket was promoted but neighbourly friendly relations between the two countries also got a boost. However due to political problems on the borders and mischief mongers in India the positive fall out of the tour was diluted.”
Mushtaq, who led Pakistan against Bishen Bedi-led India in the historical 1978-79 tour held after a lapse of fourteen years, reminded that cricket relations between the two countries had always depended on the overall political atmosphere in the region. He hoped the two nations will play cricket and other sports without the fear of any break-up for a long time.
He said naming Pakistan-India Test series as friendship cup or anything else has no meaning. Simply name it as Indo-Pak Cup and pray cricket relations last longer, he added. He said T20 captain M Hafeez had impressed him the most. “The player has got captaincy material and could easily take over the reins of Test and ODI's when offered. A team always needed a thinking captain and that quality is in greater amount in Hafeez.” When his friends asked him to compare the current standard of cricket in Pakistan from his days, he said a good number of youngster with outstanding qualities were in the current circuit but there potential could not be exploited fully due to faulty domestic structure. A bolder approach while playing was needed to raise the local standard, he added.
He said he had a meeting with PCB head Zaka Ashraf in Kolkata where he suggested that instead of holding talent hunt programme, the PCB should appoint talent scouts who could go and watch the local circuit and pick those who had talent for further grooming. He said he asked Zaka that he was interested to work as cricket scout for the PCB. Two former greats have been appointed scouts for the Australia, he said.