Cricket on hockey-like decline in Pakistan, says former PCB chief

LAHORE: Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Khalid Mahmood has said that the future of the game in the country is in danger because of the wrong decisions of the incumbent management.

“If this situation continued, cricket would not be different from hockey. Ehsan Mani is unaware of the basic needs of Pakistan cricket. He has been in England for a long time and has that system in mind, while the problems and needs of Pakistan cricket are different from England,” said Khalid while talking to a group of journalists here.

“He is trying to run Pakistan cricket according to England. Departmental cricket was abolished without a proper strategy. Who will now protect the economic future of the players? Departmental cricket was started by the late AH Kardar to secure the economic future of the players. But now the standard of the game in the country is declining rapidly, with the national team depending on two or three batsmen,” he maintained.

Khalid said Waseem Khan was an outsider. “There was no reason to extend his contract. There are good people in Pakistan to work in this position. Junior and club cricket is gone. The reason for the decline of hockey was that clubs ceased to exist and today there is no one talking about hockey. Club cricket is the nursery and the PCB is completely ignoring it,” he observed.

“The sponsorship and financial support of club cricket is the responsibility of the PCB. Kardar had distributed sports equipment all over the country. Are we promoting club cricket now? No. The problems of club cricket are mounting with no resolution in sight. There is no permanent place for any player in the Pakistan team. Changes are happening so fast that it is difficult to remember which fast bowlers are playing,” he said.