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Thursday March 28, 2024

Pak cricket at the lowest ebb

‘Aaj Khanzada Kay Saath’ on Wednesday

By News Desk
April 24, 2015
KARACHI
The captain has been changed and selectors have also been replaced but the temperament of the cricket team has not been modified at all and it appears the team is bent upon sticking to its tradition of losing, which is mainly due to ill performance.
Khanzada said it was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan’s cricket as the tradition of losing had not been changed. The team, with its worst performance, lost one-day series for the first time. Bangladesh also white washed the green shirts after Australia and New Zealand made that adventure.
Shahzeb continued to comment saying that the team had lost its prestige ever after Waqar Yunus was appointed as its coach, because it lost the fifth one-day series in a chain of defeats and Pakistan’s ranking fell to an insulting level. Analysing the situation in the by-election of NA 246, Shahzeb said winning and losing in the constituency would be very important for the MQM, the PTI and the Jamaat-e-Islami. It would be clear message for other political parties that the people of NA-246 are not willing to accept any other political party if the MQM wins the polls. On the other hand the MQM’s win, even in the presence of the Rangers and with the use of CCTV cameras, will wash away the allegations of rigging against the MQM. Even if the MQM wins with a low margin, it would further toughen the blames of rigging. It would also indicate that MQM’s prestige has fallen after arrests of its activists from Nine-Zero. It would also give an understanding that anti-MQM vote has increased in Karachi.
He opined that defeat of the MQM in the polls would be a shocking setback for the party.
Shahzeb said it would be pleasant change in politics of the city, if the PTI managed to defeat MQM in its stronghold. This would make it difficult to resist the PTI as an emerging political party in Karachi, while it would be an adventure if it bagged more votes than it did in 2013, when it was number two strength-wise. On the other hand it would be a great setback for the PTI if it gained third position despite Imran Khan’s tall claims of ‘freeing Karachi from the sense of fear and panic.’ His slogan would prove a flop. On the other hand its third position on the victory stand would prove it had no place in NA-246.
Referring to Jamaat-e-Islami, Shahzeb said in case this party won the polls, it would be a revival of its past. He said the whole credit of Jamaat’s win would go to its ameer Sirajul Haq. An impression had developed after Haq’s election as ameer that the JI had made attainments in the political field.
In case the JI is elected as number two, it would be a proof that the JI is next to the MQM. On the other, the standing of the JI at the third position would be a clears message that the JI is no more a second option in Karachi. Referring again to the MQM, Shahzeb said though there was an impression that it was an organised political party, but its organisational structure had changed. There had been repeated reports of cracks, differences and formation of blocs in the party. It is nothing new in the up and down relations with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad. These differences were proved today after the MQM chief Altaf Hussain announced he did not own him any more and directed his party’s activists not to maintain any contacts with him any more. It is not so far the first time said Shahzeb and recalled similar situations had developed earlier when very well-known and important leaders of the party defected or side-lined while many were forgotten and lost. He mentioned in this regard the names of slain Imran Farooq, Aftab Sheikh, Mustafa Kamal, Anis Qaimkhani and Raza Haroon, while all of them had been playing key roles in the party. Speaking about cricket in the programme, the former captain and chief of PTI, Imran Khan said he could not even imagine that Bangladesh would clean sweep Pakistan. He said there was no such cricket talent elsewhere as it was found in Pakistan. He said the bowling talent of Pakistan was emerging, while the problem with batting existed. He opined that the system of cricket in Pakistan was not healthy as it was not bringing forth the talent at proper time. He pointed out that the best batsman of the team is Misbahul Haq, who is 34 but he is playing despite it is an age of retirement.
The system would never be correct if the trend of bringing forward blue-eyed boys continued. He alleged that the government had appointed such people as chairmen of the PCB, who had helped it in poll rigging.
Imran held that the captain was all-in-all in cricket, while the coach could not give a performance as he did in football or hockey. He remarked that cricket system in Australia is the best.
“You cannot expect a new captain that he would improve the team on the very first day,” he said and added that Pakistan would have to improve its cricket system. Referring to the polls in NA 246, Imran Khan said it was the actual win of the PTI that it was running election campaign in an area where no one could dare to hold the flag of any party other than that of the MQM. Whatever was the result of the polls, but it was a fact that Karachi was now changing. There had been only party in Karachi for the last 28 years. There was a better and change in lives of the citizens. The citizens wanted change but were panicky. He said the police of the city had been destroyed.
Participating in the discussion, MQM leader Haidar Abbas Rizvi alleged that the MQM was actually fighting against media trial of the party. He said the party was striving to motivate its voters and would win in the constituency again with a big margin. He pointed out that the turn out in by-polls was usually less but the ratio of about equal votes despite that would prove that the MQM was still as popular as it had always been.
Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif said it was a very sane step of the Saudi Arabia to have stopped its army action in Yemen. He said the United Nations had asked for political solution to the Yemen crisis and Saudi Arabia had moved in that direction. He said Pakistan was now in a better position to play an effective role. “It is our stand that the role of mediator should be adopted in case of differences among the Muslim countries.