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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Things will get worse before getting better: Mani

By Khalid Hussain
September 24, 2018

DUBAI: Ehsan Mani, Pakistan’s new cricket chief, is a man on a mission. And one of his biggest goals is to “depoliticize” cricket. It may well be his toughest.

In a long list of challenging targets that include restructuring Pakistan cricket and bringing back international action to the country, Mani has kept resumption of Indo-Pak cricketing ties as one of his priorities.

And he believes that the on-field relations between the two neighbours could be normalise by “depoliticising cricket”.“I want cricket to be depoliticised,” says Mani, who took over from Najam Sethi as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earlier this month.

But he is well aware of the fact that it’s a case of easier said than done.It is an open secret that the resumption of Indo-Pak cricketing ties would only be possible if things cool down between the two countries politically.

That is unlikely to happen anytime soon. In fact, with general elections in India just months away, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started beating war drums apparently to appease its vote bank which largely consists of hard-line Hindus.

However, Mani is hopeful that there is going to be positive change in India’s attitude.“I’m sure there will be change in India,” he said.But when reminded that the Indians have opted to reject all Pakistani moves for talks, Mani agreed that tings won’t change under the current set-up.

“Things will get worse before they get better,” he said. “The BJP government has an agenda. But the entire world knows that eventually Pakistan and India will have to sort out differences. The reality is that we are neigbours. We can’t destroy each other.”

Mani, a former president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), believes cricket should serve as a bridge to rebuild trust between the two nations,“I want to rebuild relations with all cricket-playing countries (including India),” he said.But Mani knows that resolving this issue is beyond his control.

So in the meantime, he would be focussing on rebuilding Pakistan cricket.Since taking over charge of PCB, he has been doing his homework with the singular objective of turning the Board into a professionally-run institution.

That, too, is a case of easier said than done.For years, PCB has been run like a fiefdom with every chairman taking decisions at his whims and fancies.But Mani wants to be different.

“That’s not how you run a cricket board,” he says. “The chairman isn’t supposed to take all decisions. It shouldn’t be a one-man show.”Mani said that he would need around three months to introduce changes that would be aimed at institutionalising PCB.

“Our system has too many vested interests. We will have to bring transparency. Our Prime Minister’s vision is clear. Our priority is quality not quantity. We have take a long, hard look before finalising a new structure.

“It’s not the board’s job to run stadiums. Currently PCB is running eight stadiums. We will have to empower associations. I’ve had far and wide discussions. We are also taking inputs from (former Test cricketer) Majid Khan, who has some very good ideas.”

Mani’s plan is to bring in more and more former cricketers to help run cricketing matters.“We should have former cricketers in the set-up. We need thinking cricketers who can help develop the players’ skills. A chairman can’t do that. Effectively the chairman selects a coach. It’s an unprofessional way to do things. We should have a panel of cricketers. They should select a coach. We have to devise a system that is not personality-based.”

There have been rumours that Mani was planning to bring about massive changes in the PCB.But the chairman said that he will take his team before going for any sweeping changes.“Evaluation is to be done of the people working for the Board. We have to see whether they are delivering. We will see whether people in key positions are up to the task. It will take at least three months to complete this process. We will also revisit the PCB constitution. Chairman does everything. There are no check and balances.”