Incompetence at the Board
Things are clearly not getting any better in the World Cup campaign, both on and off the field. On the surface the weaknesses are quite apparent, and it speaks volumes about the Board’s setup that they were not spotted and corrected ahead of the Cup. The batting order remains brittle, and despite repeated failures, non-performers have once again managed to cement themselves in the squad. That includes not just the likes of Younis Khan (who has been out of nick for far too long) or Shahid Afridi (whose strokes of genius remain few and far between), but also keeper-batsman Omar Akmal, who has a ready, and most say better, alternative wasting time in the dressing room. It seems even old timers in the playing eleven naively took the Dubai/Abu Dhabi success for what it was not; and tons on flaccid wickets, for some reason, raised their confidence for the World Cup.
But scratch even slightly beneath the surface and the PCB’s incompetence quickly comes to the fore. Now that the Cup bubble has burst, few are surprised, in hindsight, at the sorry state of affairs. Much of last year was spent in the tug of war between Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf. And how each time one chucked the other’s ‘team’ out the window, only to have his removed in turn, would have been comical were it not immensely tragic. With the Board politicised to the top, with even the prime minister interfering, it is difficult to refute charges of nepotism and corruption. Key posting continue to be handed out to people who have neither cricketing nor managerial skills. Small wonder, then, that they subsequently make appointments in accordance with their own understanding, which does the team or country little good.
Lately, the team management and Board high-ups have become as much as source of controversy as the non-performing team. Manager Moeen Khan for example, according to news reports, took to the gambling table to treat his sorrows. And Najam Sethi only exhibited his own limited understanding of things not even limited to cricket when he held media and public pressure responsible for Pakistan’s performance. Surely he does not think India routed South Africa the other day because they were without any pressure. Or that other teams win because of public indifference, not training, practice, discipline, etc. Surely it’s not just the playing team that needs an overhaul. It is the Board that is the bigger problem. Unless competence returns to the cricket establishment, there’s little chance of the team improving. So some of the blue-eyed will simply have to go.