PCB & Politics: Match made in hell

Let’s take a look at how the board ensured their power over the players over the last 15 years

Pakistan cricket is once again going through an interesting phase, just like the country itself. A lot of uncertainty with news circulating in the media that the new management has already decided that they will ‘challenge the status quo’, as quoted in an ESPNCricinfo’s source-based story on January 12 by Umer Farooq Kalson.

By the term ‘challenge the status quo’, what the report suggested is that the new management has already decided to reduce the decision-making powers of Pakistan’s all-powerful captain Babar Azam by appointing three different leaders for all the formats.

What’s happening?

Ever since the new management took over the matters inside the PCB after Ramiz Raja’s untimely departure, things have begun to look bad for Babar and the current management.

There have been constant reports in the media, citing ‘credible sources’ about the possibility of the former Karachi Kings captain losing his spot as the leader of the side and those reports only intensified with the inclusion of Shan Masood as the vice-captain of the 50-over team for the three-match series against New Zealand.

Furthermore, there has been constant speculations from a certain section of the media who are putting hostile questions in front of Babar during the media talk time and again.

Why it’s happening?

Historically, the PCB has had a bad habit of reducing the powers of star cricketers. Over the years, the higher-ups seemed unhappy when players became powerful enough to challenge their authority in different decision-making steps.

Let’s take a look at how PCB ensured their power over the players over the last 15 years.

Malik’s departure

PCB appointed a young all-rounder Shoaib Malik in 2007. The Sialkot-born replaced Inzamam-ul-Haq who retired after Pakistan crashed out of the ICC World Cup 2007.

The all-rounder became powerful after guiding the national team to the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup, which was the first-ever in the format, and eventually losing to India.

However, that performance didn’t come to the former Sialkot Stallions captain’s rescue as he was sacked after the national team lost an ODI series while playing at home.

As per the media reports, Malik was replaced because of the grouping inside the team, which featured some of the senior players.

Coup against Younis

Malik was replaced by Younis Khan as the leader of the group. However, the stylish right-hander turned out to be anything but a good, smiling character that he was while on the ground.

Younis challenged the board with team selections and despite leading the team to its only World T20 title to date, he was removed from the position.

As per different media reports, the team manager was involved in the grouping against Younis.

Sarfaraz’s untimely departure:

Sarfaraz Ahmed was appointed the captain of the side after Pakistan were on the brink of failing to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and was also in danger of missing out on direct qualification for the ICC World Cup 2019.

He not only led the team to qualify for the event but also the Men-in-Green lifted the Champions Trophy by beating arch-rivals India in the final by a comprehensive 180-run margin.

The Karachi-born solidified his captaincy and position as a powerful captain by not only inspiring the unit to do well in the ODIs but also by continuing to win T20Is as well, making the side top-ranked in the world and keeping it there for nearly two years.

However, his own performance dipped in the subsequent years and he was sacked from the captaincy role after the team was whitewashed against Sri Lanka in a T20I series while playing at home.

Not only was he sacked, but he was also dropped from the team across formats and was replaced by Mohammad Rizwan.

What’s PCB trying to achieve?

PCB, over the last two decades, had intentionally tried to keep players’ powers in check and ensured so that they remain the most influential in terms of dealing with the cricketing affairs in the country.

When Babar was appointed as the captain, perhaps the authorities didn’t realise that the right-hander was pretty quickly becoming a heartthrob of the nation as he was emerging as the best in the world.

It seems that now there is a similar exercise underway. This exercise is to ensure that Babar — the biggest star in Pakistan cricket over the last two decades — remains in check.

This exercise will either make Babar weak as a captain or the board will have a new captain on the weaker ground because no matter who that will be, he will not be as big a player as Babar is, which is an ideal situation for the board to deal with.

This is the reason why Shan Masood is now in the mix which is surprising, to say the least. Having someone like him, who doesn’t have a guaranteed place in the playing XI, will only make the board even stronger when it comes to decision-making.

The only problem is that such political gimmicks will only harm Pakistan cricket and no one else because there is no growth under the shadow of uncertainty, something we have already seen as a country and sports is no different.