Breaking down the present state of Pakistan’s Cricket Team

I was 11 when Imran Khan lifted the Cricket World Cup in 1992. The sight of two of the greatest allrounders in the game competing in the finals was one to remember. It was followed by a decade of great admiration to the cricket played in the country. During those times, the biggest talking point was how the West Indies cricket has steadily fallen down. I feel the same about Cricket in Pakistan now. They will still win the odd game, trouble a few teams on their good days but structurally they are not the same.

Imran Khan is still considered to be a great leader in the sport. He was instrumental in identifying a crop of cricketers whom he coached to be greats in the sport. Apart from Mohammed Amir, there hasn’t been a cricketer since or there hasn’t been an Imran Khan since to identify the talent and nurture them. The approach used by Imran Khan has remained with Imran Khan. Since that time, it has taken two generations to the current crop of people. I consider it a failure on part of Imran to have not institutionalised this process.

Cricket is a sport but the future of the sport lies in the hands of its administrators. When Cricket in Pakistan was thriving and they were second only to an all-time great Australian team,  the administrators basked on the glory but failed miserably to create proper structures within the system which will take it few steps forward. They should have got the following signals from the team’s performance.

1. There were quite a few glory hogs in the team. The individuals wanted to see how to make themselves great. They backed it with a lot good performances which meant these flaws were ignored.
2. They failed to realise the transition going through in the game. Fielding and Fitness were beginning to gain more prominence than before. It was no more a question of having few good fielders but an entire team of great fielders.
3. The selection policies continued to remain directionless. The frequent changing of captains didn’t allow anyone to settle down. The lack of focus on how to integrate a new person into the team led to a lot of insecurities.
4. A major part of the board’s responsibility is to find ways to invest in the future of the Cricket in Pakistan. It never happened. The facilities were limited to few key centres and never spread beyond.

Another thing which happened with Pakistan was the massive influence of religion, which was started by Inzamam-ul-Haq. Pakistan cricket team always had faith but that didn’t drive cricket. Inzamam changed all that. There is a great article written by a Pakistani Journalist interviewing some officials in this regard. This was one of the reasons behind Yousuf Youhanna converting to Islam to become Mohammed Yusuf.

Lack of financial guidance to youngsters is another problem. A combination of poor selection policy and anxiety about their future has led many youngsters to make a lot of poor decisions. I can only imagine how Amir, Asif and Salman Bhatt could have contributed to the betterment of Pakistani cricket had they not been banned. Even the mature cricketers like Mohammed Yusuf at one point too the plunge with Indian Cricket League to safeguard their future.

All these points resulted in a team which lacked a fundamental understanding of the sport. The team can surprise us by winning odd matches but the underlying situation hasn’t changed.  However, I want the future generations to feel the excitement of Anwar’s flick, Inzamam’s pull, Yusuf’s cover drive, Shoaib’s pace, Waqar’s yorker or Akram’s swing. I would take one of them from Pakistan now. The sheer belligerence of the team is a big void in world cricket now.