PCT and it’s Disastrous CT’25 Run: Reflecting the National Crisis
From the moment I gained consciousness, and for as long as I remember, cricket was a mandatory part of life. The entire family gathering together for the game, the screenings, the discussions at home and school over the games – before and after, the excitement, the thrill. It remained consistent through the fixing scandals, the ban on cricket in Pakistan, the captaincy crisis, the politics in the squad, the management issues and whatnot. The nation has stood by Pakistan’s Cricket Team (PCT) through ups and downs, or as the saying goes – chahay tum jeeto ya haaro, humein tum se pyaar hai.
But apparently, that was taken as a challenge, and the nation has been driven to the point of hopelessness from this team, that there’s no spark, no excitement and no expectations left from the team anymore. The ever unpredictable PCT has become more than predictable – a team with no intent, no drive, and yielding no results.
After years of efforts at every level, an international tournament was back in the country after 29 long years, just for the host team to be out within hours. Adding on to that, the fact that the host team had to travel thousands of kilometers to play in another soil, just because the host country’s institutes – including the cricket board – have been degenerated to the point where it has no respect in the world to even take a stand for itself. A tournament which was welcomed by a broken nation so whole-heartedly, left them angry and disappointed to the point that even Lahoris – who gave a full stadium to a group match – didn’t show up for the semi-final.
It makes you stop and wonder – why? This destruction isn’t limited to the cricket team or board, but rather is a brutal reflection of the state of the entire nation. There is so much to fix that a few hirings and firings would not work. A systemic cleansing is required, but that starts from understanding where the problem(s) lie.
1. Incapable Individuals In-charge of Institutes Without Merit
Pakistan Cricket Board – just like the country at large – is victim of frequent power grabs, which results in irrelevant, incompetent individuals taking over. Unfortunately, PCB has become heavily politicized to the point that we have the same man roleplaying PCB chairman and the Federal Interior Minister!
One stops and wonders what possible qualification would such an individual have to run a sports’ board. The results and strategies – including player trainings under the military – prove that he has none. Although this might be the worst management, however, it is not a one-off event. We have frequently had hand-picked chairmen, coaches, selectors, who often replace genuinely capable and far-sighted coaches.
This showcases a fundamental problem that we have as a nation where favoritism, nepotism and mutual benefits often over-power actual competence and merit. In a country where institutes as crucial as NADRA to retired military men, incapable individuals in PCB does not shock anyone.
2. Talented, Enthusiastic Youth Reduced to Nothing
Does the PCT really not have any dedicated and talented young players who have the intent to bring a dynamic change in the team? It does. Pakistan had Muhammad Haris and Abdullah Shafique as options for the tournament. Two young opening batters who have proved themselves time and again. With Saim Ayub out, one would assume either of these would’ve been a natural choice, but no. We treat talent in the worst way possible by mismanaging it to the point where the talent is wasted.
The situation seems oddly reminiscent of the overall situation in Pakistan, which despite having a whooping 60% of young population, wastes their potential. Rather than driving this youth into productive activities and employing their talents in the right direction, we have brought our youth to a point where a majority either has, or is trying to move out. Those left here have a high level of estrangement and a sense of hopelessness with the country given the government’s lack of focus on youth issues.
Read More: Wreck-ed State of National Affairs
Our talent is building economies in Europe, America and Middle East as software, mechanical and civil engineers, doctors and entrepreneurs, because the handlers of the Pakistani economy offer them nothing. Reminds you of the likes of Imran Tahir?
3. Lack of Passion, Drive and Direction
I look back at the national team from 2021 and 2022 world cups, and I can’t help but feel pained. Did the team win these tournaments? No. But the sense of unity, direction and passion was present and visible. The 2022 final against England, with a score as low as 130, we saw the entire bowling team putting in their maximum effort and getting close to victory, had it not been for Shaheen’s unfortunate injury.
Today, the intent, the passion and the direction are all gone from PCT. The team paints the picture of a bunch of individuals playing solely for the sake of ticking off another day of work. They walk in with no drive, and at no point do we see them putting in any effort. Then you hear the management and you really see that there is no sense of direction or long-term planning anywhere from top to bottom.
It doesn’t come as a surprise as the same is the case of the country at large. We have no vision as a nation, or forward thinking. Everyone is going on from one day to the next, no wider ambitions or goals. Similarly, the government lacks any sense of direction when it comes to economy, national security, foreign policy, education or basically any sphere.
4. Selfish Motives Overtaking a Sense of Unity and Team
I believe this is the most criticized aspect of PCT, and is an unfortunate element that has remained a constant across time. Be it the team groupings when Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Afridi were playing, to now, nothing seems to have changed. There’s always a race for captaincy to the point where both individual and team performances are affected. Rather than playing as a unit, everyone is just doing their own thing. Selfish innings leaving no value, but rather being a burden is nothing new, but it seems to have gotten worse.
Again, the same is the case for the whole nation. So long as we are safe, have food on our tables and are sleeping in the comfort of our beds, we seldom care about the rising unemployment, skyrocketing inflation or even the rising terrorism. If today, we, as a nation, stand together for our rights, and invest our energies into that direction, we can actually get things to improve. But each one of is is caught up with self-interests and our own gains, that the collective gains are next to none.
5. Lack of Self-Respect
I am still unable to wrap my head around the tournament format accepted by Pakistan – the host. Nothing can be more degrading for a host nation to not have the final and semi-final of the event on its soil. Even more so, touring to another country to play a match because one country refused to come to your land. Dare I ask, what benefit does such a disgraceful hosting bring to us? Not only PCT, every other team has had to fly to UAE for one match and then fly back, while India gets the unmatched advantage as it plays all its matches on the same pitch.
Part of it has to do with the power dynamic in ICC highly skewed towards BCCI, but I can’t help but ponder over the lack of self-respect and national dignity Pakistanis have as a nation, in general. Our cricket board is just one institute which demonstrates this, but if you stop and think about it, it exists across the board. How quick are Pakistanis to diss and downplay anything that is local? Our culture, our products, our media and so on, while hyping up absolutely mediocre things from other nations.
Its a trend which you can pick up on if you just pay the slightest bit of attention. As someone who has lived abroad for a major chunk of her life, I have spent years analyzing the difference between Pakistanis and Indians in terms of owning up what is theirs – language, dressing, people etc. The attitude we employ for ourselves translates into how to world treats us.
Again in the cricketing world, we see this in full display. There is no doubt that our team has been performing subpar for a very long time and deserves all the criticism. But the embarrassment one feels when hearing our ‘experts’ talk – including both the ex-cricketers and journalists – is unmatched. The criticism is so loud that more often than not, it moves away from genuine criticism on the game to aspects like players’ language or looks etc.
It is embarrassing when you watch Pakistani ‘legends’ proudly pull down their own countrymen with such brutality in front of Indians or other foreigners. It is even more embarrassing when these foreigners – especially Indians – offer defense to our players against the attacks of their own countrymen. It makes you wonder, why do we hate our own so much?
Questions Moving Forward: A Dilemma Beyond PCT
This article has ended up being longer than what I originally expected it to be, but the anger I feel inside of me as a Pakistani cricket fan still refuses to subside. More than anger, its just a sense of disappointment and looming sadness because I know this team has potential. Even the current lot of players, despite the bad patch that they’re going through. Babar, Shaheen, Rizwan, Naseem – we’ve seen these boys cause waves in international cricket, and I know they can do it again. When? Time will tell.
Read More: Hiding the symptoms does not heal the illness
What makes me sadder is the constant realization that this is only the brutal and ugly manifestation of the national downhill ride we have been on for a few years. There is so much wrong, that the problems highlighted in this article are not even the tip of the iceberg. At this point, we need a full upheaval and deep cleansing at grassroots level. We need to understand why we find ourselves in such a hopeless state, and move forward from that understanding.
As for cricket, maybe that understanding will have to begin from bringing out the only world cup winning captain, and letting him guide this team through the crisis phase.
This is so all on point! Cricket has been such a disappointment now, and I have been a crazy cricket enthusiast. ☹️