ANYONE who has even casually followed Pakistan cricket over the years will know that our cricket board’s response to losing the current Test series in England is a hysterical overreaction.
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response → follow → England
After consecutive defeats at Headingley and Lord’s sealed the fate of the three-match rubber, the Pakistan Cricket Board sacked the head coach and fast-bowling coach, ordered seven players from the squad to pack their bags, and announced five novices and two recalls as their replacements.
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Board → seal → replacements
On top of that, one of the openers will be subjected to a disciplinary investigation for allegedly faking an injury.
uncertain
one → subject → injury
As actions of the PCB administration go, this is unprecedented.
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this → go → administration
As human behaviour goes, this is lunacy.
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this → go → ?
These developments have unleashed a deafening outrage, triggering embarrassing news headlines and sarcastic social media memes.
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developments → unleash → headlines
That Pakistan’s cricket establishment has degenerated into such farce should come as no surprise.
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degenerated → degenerate → surprise
The PCB chairman has always been a handpicked political appointee — merit be damned.
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merit → damn → ?
And since a fish rots from the head, there you have it.
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you → rot → it
Yes, sometimes you will get lucky with the arrival of a Nur Khan or an Arif Abbasi at the helm, but these are fortuitous exceptions.
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these → get → helm
A national cricket board chief is meant to be an elected official, voted in by representatives of regional cricket associations.
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chief → mean → associations
This makes the position approachable and accountable.
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position → make → ?
Instead, the practice in Pakistan is for the prime minister to dole out the PCB chairmanship as a favour or reward to an ally or acolyte.
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minister → dole → ally
Over time, this has resulted in a cricketing infrastructure that lacks the ability to identify, nurture and promote the best talent available.
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that → result → talent
As actions of the PCB administration go, this is unprecedented.
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this → go → administration
As human behaviour goes, this is lunacy.
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this → go → ?
The one silver lining in this whole fiasco is that the ire of the cricket-following public has finally been deflected away from the players and squarely onto the PCB and its leadership.
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ire → follow → PCB
We would normally have the players in our gunsights, as they are the most visible and hence the most obvious targets.
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they → have → gunsights
But the blame ultimately lies elsewhere.
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blame → lie → ?
To shine on the international stage, a cricketing tradition must rest on three pillars — an avid fan base, a rich talent pool, and a capable administration.
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tradition → shine → pillars
Just look at the whiplash that Pakistan’s cricket supporters go through with every victory and every defeat; that tells you all you need to know about their passionate commitment.
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you → look → commitment
As for talent, a country that has managed to produce all-time legends such as Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Younis Khan (among many others), is certainly not lacking in cricketing ability.
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that → manage → ability
That leaves governance and management, by far the most compromised pillar in Pakistan’s cricket edifice.
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That → leave → edifice
It is honestly very hard to fathom what deliberations would have taken place in the upper echelons of the PCB that led to such a ridiculous knee-jerk outcome.
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that → fathom → outcome
It couldn’t have come from the high-performance director Aqib Javed, the lone international cricketer in PCB’s C-suite, because he would surely know better.
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he → come → suite
Quite possibly Aqib might have advocated for a more measured approach.
uncertain
Aqib → advocate → approach
Yes, he has been staunchly defending the PCB’s actions in the media and on public forums, but the PCB command structure leaves him little choice.
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structure → defend → choice
In all likelihood, the decision-making came solely from the PCB chief, Mr Mohsin Naqvi, himself.
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making → come → chief
He may have asked for input from other bigwigs in the PCB’s corporate hierarchy, but none of them have any serious cricketing credentials.
uncertain
none → ask → credentials
One can easily imagine them trying to guess what the boss wanted to hear, and then echoing it implicitly and explicitly.
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boss → imagine → it
What thought process did Mohsin Naqvi undertake to do what he did?
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he → undertake → what
He is, to begin with, an overburdened man, holding the portfolio of federal minister for interior and narcotics control, in addition to his PCB hat.
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He → begin → hat
Moreover, he has emerged as a key member of the diplomatic team seeking peace in the Middle East, having visited Iran no less than six times since hostilities started.
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hostilities → emerge → Iran
This mandate amounts to averting ‘World War III’, no small assignment.
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mandate → amount → assignment
So we can reasonably conclude that Mr Naqvi as a cricket administrator is at best distracted, and at worst negligent.
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Naqvi → conclude → administrator
Pakistan are scattered and scarred after losing the first two Tests.
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Pakistan → scatter → Tests
One can only imagine the terrified mood in the camp as the team anticipates the third and final Test, starting in Birmingham on Sept 9.
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team → imagine → Sept
Cricket fans have been left wondering if this is the worst Pakistani cricket outfit ever.
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this → leave → ?
It is worth remembering, however, that Pakistan cricket has seen much worse, both on and off the field.
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cricket → remember → field
In 2002, in what is easily our worst Test scorecard ever, Pakistan faced Australia in a Test in Sharjah, totaling 59 in the first innings and 53 in the second, losing (naturally) by an innings — even though that team had included some great names.
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team → face → names
…and 5 more, not listed.
