Ban & Fines - Really?
The last time 7-8 of the top cricketers from Pakistan were banned and fined at the same time, it was due to links with match fixing.
The captain, vice captain, and all senior players were found guilty by an inquiry that went on for months before the bans and fines were announced.
And now Ijaz Butt wants us to believe that his inquiry has spent a couple of weeks investigating and has banned and fined the captain, vice captain, and all senior players due to indiscipline, in-fighting, and bad behavior!
Seriously!?
Since when have indiscipline and in-fighting become sins requiring such harsh punishments?
No I am not saying that it is alright to have indiscipline and in-fighting rampant within the dressing room; what I am saying is that for as cricket has been played in Pakistan, indiscipline and in-fighting have been a part of it.
So why punish it now?
Indiscipline, ego clashes, and dressing room fights and arguments were common even during Pakistan's "most successful era" under Imran Khan.
The Imran - Miandad captaincy struggle is well documented. So are Imran Khan's ego clashes with Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, and Sarfraz Nawaz.
You don't even have to go and look that far; the last decade has seen Shoaib Akhtar repeatedly commit one indisciplinary act after another. Even he got away without bans or fines.
So what has happened this time round that warrants such heavy punishments?
To ban the country's two best batsmen for "indefinitely" is not a joke. And I find it very hard to believe that it is because their arguments were causing an unrest in the team.
The individuals in the team are not so soft that they get rattled by an argument between two senior players.
So what crime have they committed?
I believe we deserve to know.
Who is trying to clean up whose mess here?
If the players were involved in match fixing then tell us.
If the PCB knows it, then we deserve to know too!
What is even more surprising is that all the players have remained quiet since the announcement of the bans of fines.
Besides Younis Khan's and Afridi's appeals and the news that Malik and Rana will also file for appeals, no one has said a word.
Why?
They are all happy playing in a Bangladeshi T20 league in Sharjah.
Are they not worried? do they not care?
Malik has been an integral part of Pakistan's T20 plans - he has shown no disappointment in being left out of the upcoming World T20 campaign - Why?
Something is terribly wrong with Pakistan cricket and the people in charge believe that they can fix it by banning and fining the top players of the country.
That is not going to work.
You need your best players around, and you need to support them. Not fight against them!
If the cricket management in Pakistan cannot bind 15 men together to perform for the country or resolve their issues by interfering and ensuring performance, then they do not deserve to be the management of Pakistan cricket.
I can go on about how to be a good manager given how much of that BS I have learnt at business school; however, the point here is that Ijaz Butt and his cronies at the PCB are not solving any issues.
The only good decision they have made is pick Afridi as captain. They will spoil that too by picking someone else to lead in the ODIs and Tests.
There are no rules and regulations under which the PCB operates. There are no guidelines that regulate their operations. The Chairman has all the power to pick anyone, drop anyone, fine anyone ban anyone, hire anyone, fire anyone, and so on.
That is NOT how Pakistan's board should be operating!
The problem is not with the players - the problem is with the people managing them.
If Pakistan cricket is to get back into shape, then this operation clean up needs to start at the top!
Makes sense to me.
Kya mara hai boss! You had to be in the gulf to see the gulf - leave biz school, yr team needs you.
Good to have you back Q. Hope you going to be posting more often at least during the world T20 in West Indies!
Wow Q is back and back with a bang.
I 101% agreed with you man. Keep the post coming at least once a semester :P
I'm rather in two minds when thinking about the way PCB handled it. But once thing I know is that probably no other board could have shown so much of gut.
Welcome back Qqqqqq :D
Great post. I totally agree that the PCB needs to be sorted out and we as supporers reserve the right to know whats happened to the players and why they were actually banned.
there is a strong possibility that Younis and Yousuf were not banned because they had arguments against each other, but because they were on the same side and were disrupting the team.... Mohd. Yousuf, I can serisouly consider as one who disrupts the team. He has left for ICL for a number of occassions and has tried to keep PCB hostage quite a few times. His retirement is again just 'for the time being'.
I am not a huge fan of Ijaz Butt. But Pakistani team needs discipline. I would rather kick off two senior batsman who bring the morale of the team down and create infighting.. and have young and upcoming stars who can be nurtured....
There is enough talent in Pakistani ranks to get back on track. The results might suffer for a few years... but once we get back on track and the young players know that that they need to be disciplined, we will have a much brigther future for Pakistani cricket.
Remember its not the players who wins us matches... its the 'team' ... the sooner we realise that the better our win/loss ratio will become