And the team
The consolation win against Sri Lanka puts Pakistan at number three in Asia’s T-20 rankings. But since the tournament featured only five teams, the end result was not much to write home about. And, quite rightly, not many back home are too happy with the way things have been going for quite a while now; so much so that even PCB has been jolted out of its paralysis. Now a committee will look into what is already pretty obvious. The team, top to bottom, is not performing. And ironically the only two players with some semblance of consistency – Amir and Sarfaraz – face pressures that have nothing to do with cricket.
However, the PCB chairman has made it clear that there will be no change of captaincy ahead of the T20 World Cup due shortly. So arguably the team’s most inconsistent player will once again try and inspire an already struggling lot at one of cricket’s grandest stages. Needless to say, such experiments have never worked out will for Pakistan. There are also hints of a shakeup in the management. So, all in all, we can expect to see the axe take out a few heads in the squad and a selector here and a manager there. But that is about all.
The top management, it appears, will only do the cleansing. It will, for all intents and purposes, escape any manner of scrutiny itself. There seems little realisation that the team’s fortunes began dipping ominously just when the traditional tug of war at the head of the Board became institutionalised. Shahryar Khan and especially Najam Sethi came to their prized positions after a great deal of unnecessary controversy. And they have singularly failed in their assignment of sorting out the Board and shaping up the team. The entire cricketing establishment is in a crying need of an overhaul. The sooner necessary steps are taken the better.