In a gangster’s dictionary, a contract means ‘an order to murder an individual’ and it seems that Pakistan Cricket Board offered central contracts to its non-favoured cricketers with the ‘underworld’ term in mind. Not only did the demotion of Younis Khan raised eyebrows, the inappropriate placement of many seems that either the PCB has lost it, wants to invite trouble from fans and experts and/or clearly wishes to ‘murder’ the careers of some of the cricketers.
Thankfully, the Board reversed its decision by opting to add a new clause in its rule to pave the path for Younis Khan to be included in the A-list.
No one in his right mind would ever place Younis in the B category of the central contracts, since he has served Pakistan cricket well in the last 14 years. Not only has he won many a matches for the country, he has scored more than 20 Test centuries in a team where no one has score 10! His tally of centuries is more than that of the entire playing XI combined, he is by far the fittest player in the squad and no one can question his commitment at all.
But all that didn’t seem to click at the PCB Headquarters, at least not till fierce criticism from various quarters forced the Board chiefs to backtrack. The ever-present PCB employee Zakir Khan (himself an average bowler who only managed to play international cricket due to Imran Khan’s meherbani) believed that since Younis plays in Tests only, he should not be in the A category. Good thinking sir, but doesn’t that apply to all those in the category. By your definition, neither Shahid Afridi, skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and Junaid Khan deserve a place in the elite category since Misbah doesn’t play T20s, Afridi doesn’t play Tests and Junaid is only in the team when either Sohail Tanvir is out of form, Bilawal Bhatti is out of contention and Umar Gul is not in the playing XI. In this year’s World T20, Junaid Khan represented Pakistan in just one out of the four matches; seems to me he isn’t a regular team member in that format, doesn’t it?
I don’t mean to say that Junaid Khan is not the best bowler in the Pakistan side, he is. But the management prefers Umar Gul, Bilawal Bhatti and Sohail Tanvir over him, hence he is not an ‘A category’ cricketer. Similarly, we must also consider Mohammad Hafeez’s place here, since he is also not a regular member of Test side. The only reason Pakistan managed to win the 3rd final Test against Sri Lanka in Sharjah earlier this year was because Hafeez was not part of the playing XI. Ahmed Shehzad and Khurram Manzoor opened the innings for the green-shirts in a match they won because there was for once a stable, century opening partnership in the first innings!
Furthermore, what else would Faisal Iqbal have to do to gain the trust of the selectors who treat him as per his relationship with former captain and coach Javed Miandad rather than on his statistics. Not only did the nephew of the cricket legend score as many as six centuries in 2012, he was part of national team till last year and was dropped without ever getting to play a single match! He not only was the 2nd highest runs scorer in the President’s Cup One Day tournament with 416 runs in 10 matches but also 538 more runs in the President’s Trophy which were much more than what Umar Amin and Co. scored.
The absence of Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal was a treat for sore eyes since they play, they fail and yet they stay in the side for no reason. But then, keeping injury prone Adnan Akmal in ‘C’ and rival wicket-keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed in ‘D’ category can be termed as a huge error of judgment. Till January last I wasn’t a fan of Sarfaraz but after his match winning exploits in the Sharjah Test (48 runs off 46 balls), he needs a boost rather than a bite. What would have happened had Rashid Latif been kept in ‘C’ and Moin Khan in ‘D’ category during the 90s? Would the current manager and the former captain would have been able to survive from that heartbreak and deliver his brilliant performances in the World Series in 1996 and the World Cup three years later? I doubt it and thank god that there was no central contract in the golden era of the 90s.
And lastly, there is the inclusion of a left-arm spinner named Abdul Rehman in the ‘C’ category who was unable to bowl three normal deliveries during the recently concluded Asia Cup! After those three no balls, the best thing he could have done is quit the game since it brought nothing but shame to Pakistan cricket, but no … he stayed on and was rewarded with a ‘C’ grade contract that also includes future stalwarts Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Khurram Manzoor and Nasir Jamshed. Interesting!
And where is Zulfiqar Babar, Rehman’s rival for the second spinner’s slot? In the D category because he manages to help Pakistan get crucial breakthroughs with his intelligent spin bowling, and has played an integral role in recent victories. He is there with all those who couldn’t find a place in the above 3 categories. There is Pakistan’s very own ‘Van Parchi’ Umar Amin who can neither bat, nor ball and isn’t athletic on the field and an out of sorts Wahab Riaz who once upon a time took five wickets in a match against India. The category is completed with the inclusions of future captain material Sohaib Maqsood, the talented duo of Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali, the explosive Sharjeel Khan, the indomitable Fawad Alam, the future stars Haris Sohail, Shaan Masood and Raza Hasan along with the talented pace battery Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Talha and Rahat Ali (well he did take a five-for in Tests against South Africa!).
There may be no denying that the recently concluded summer camp had nothing to do with the central contracts, but wasting the time of cricketers (who didn’t feature in the contract) and resources of the cricket board could have been avoided had the contracts been issued on time, and after some intelligent workout. But it seems that Pakistan Cricket Board wants to stay in the news for all the wrong reasons - on or off season - and their plan is working to the best of their (limited) abilities.