The cricket debacle

Wasim Bari In an article The cricket debacle Syed Fakir Ayazuddin criticized the Pakistan Cricket Board and also looked every bit venomous as he observed several flaws within the system. Despite admitting to the fact that Pakistan won the World T20 Cup, he attempted to tarnish the current Pakistan cricket. It is a little mind-boggling that someone reasonable and educated should try not giving the credit to the Pakistan team and its administrators for annexing the World Twenty20 title. It was by any standards a great win, outstanding in a sense that Pakistan had been under tremendous psychological pressure adding to their inability to play regular high-quality international cricket. Despite lack of opportunities still our team won beating international heavy weights likes of South Africa and Sri Lanka, even trespassing New Zealand, an equally tougher opposition. He without elaborating his statement termed the people running the PCB 'incompetent'. It is generally a very hard word and also subjective too. How could he determine and gauge the incompetence of people actually administering the Pakistani game. He should have given evidences before using as strong a word as 'incompetent'. He was discussing Pakistan team's performance in the first two Tests against Sri Lanka and horrendously, out of context tried mixing the things up - cricket as a game and cricket's management are too separate things. And how someone could just stand-up and say that the Pakistan team has the birthright to win every match they play. Our side is in the rebuilding phase and triumphing in international cricket just can't be achieved overnight. We need to be patient and also determine that during this Sri Lanka tour the Pakistan team has unearthed many stars for the future namely Mohammad Aamir, Fawad Alam and beating them near the finishing line, Umar Akmal. If we could generate such formidable bench strength, we may have lost the Test and one-day series but we return home with most impressive weaponry ready to take the world by storm in the future. We were playing Test matches after a long lay-off and still the younger players complied willfully and started taking challenges to the full under a new captain. Teams are not made in a day; they need lots of determination and a level-playing field. Pakistan's performance against Australia at Abu Dhabi was unexpectedly impressive and it showed that they had the talent, inherent capacity and the passion to lock horns with the best team in the world. The writer's allegation of match fixing were actually a sequel to conspiracies against Younis Khan. And he used harsh language calling players stupid to stand up to a winning captain. The writer seemed thoroughly confused as he blamed the administrators for bad management of the team. How could Mr. Ijaz Butt be held responsible for team's 'ridiculously impetuous' and 'erratic' performances in Sri Lanka, if it ever was? India one of the finest teams in the world and with the best support system lost three straight matches failing to qualify for the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals still not even a wink was seen regarding any involvement in match-fixing. The nation supports its team and trusts the players, treating them as ambassadors. It indicates, and is evidence enough that India is a mature nation. The writer also insisted that the ambush against Sri Lanka team at Lahore on March 3 was incapably handled by the PCB. Sri Lanka team's security was not purely PCB's responsibility rather there was a chain in its entirety responsible for the safety of players. Security is provided by the state, it wasn't the PCB but the security agencies failed. PCB management had a complete liaison with the security agencies in Karachi and Lahore. Criticism should not be taken as an opportunity to serve someone's vested interest. Personalities should not be criticized. Criticism should always be positive and PCB as an institution and a corporate organization would always welcome if it is criticized healthily for its betterment. The writer is Director HR & Administrator Pakistan Cricket Board

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