ISLAMABAD: As the sitting chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ehsan Mani is making a last-gasp effort to boost his credentials before Prime Minister Imran Khan during today’s (Monday) meeting in an effort to seek a second term in the office, a quick look at his three-year tenure in the office reveals many ups and down as well as good and bad for country’s cricket.
Mani, not a new name to the international cricket fraternity, had already served as the chairman International Cricket Council (ICC) before taking over the reins of the cricket board three years back. So to say that he was well versed with the art of handling international cricket affairs would be no exaggeration but it was on the domestic front where he really faced many challenges and some of these were possibly beyond his expectations when he took the position. These include giving a direction to domestic cricket.
Though a few encouraging steps were taken to streamline the system, the general revamping pace as promised has been too slow and casual.
The PCB chairman’s first objective was to get a fresh constitution for the board which he succeeded in having according to his vision of a professional institution. Two years have passed since the PCB has got through that document, yet we are still waiting for complete implementation starting from grassroots to the provincial level. For the first time in the country’s cricket history, there has been no recognised and approved competition at the club level.
In fact, there is no club at all that could be rated as official as the process is still continuing to determine the genuine one. Since the PCB has yet to fully register provincial associations, the club cricket (the very base of structure) is totally missing from the setup for almost 32 months now. The PCB entirely controls the powers from Lahore rather than devolving it to the provinces, cities and to the clubs-which is the watchword of the new constitution.
The concerns about the formation of clubs have are also there. Some believe that the conditions set forth for the genuine club formation having the voting right is too tough, a reality that was even recognized by Director High-Performance Nadeem Khan during an interview at the outset of initiating the process.
On the domestic cricket front, many cricketers have gone jobless as a number of departmental administrations have closed down their cricketing section as they see no light at the end of the tunnel.
The policies of current incumbents further added to miseries, when one sees selectors and city association coaches shaping up city teams for premier competition through their liking and disliking. No proper criteria have been placed to judge the current form, fitness, and quality of players who straight away were included on the teams to play inter-city competitions.
The PCB has yet to attract sponsors to support provincial associations. Leading departments have already refused to be part of this practice.
Pakistan’s performance has not been consistent. The never-ending trend of snatching defeat from jaws of victory goes unchecked.
Amid all these weaknesses, flaws and lack of efforts put in to achieve desired goals, the PCB under Mani has succeeded in bringing international cricket back to the county. New Zealand are about to land in Pakistan and we have already hosted teams like South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe during Mani’s tenure as the Chairman PCB.
The PCB also successfully met the challenges posed by the Covid-19 by hosting domestic and international cricket, as well as touring various countries to ensure cricket continues to grow and develop.
Pakistan has emerged a strong candidate to host at least one global event in the ICC’s 2024-2031 Events Cycle. PCB has already submitted Expression of Interest for six events — two T20 World Cups with the UAE and Oman; two 50-over World Cups in partnership with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; and two champions trophies which will be organised single-handedly.
