Ganesh Kendale
Pakistan have been on a losing spree in Test cricket and got eliminated early in the last ODI and T20 World Cups, which has led to a lot of concerns and questions around the sport’s management by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as well as grooming the talent available domestically in the country.
While Pakistan is performing better in the ongoing second Test against England in Multan, they lost the first Test despite scoring more than 500 runs in their first innings and were swept 2-0 before that at home by Bangladesh.
In a major shake-up recently to address the team’s embarrassing dip in form, the PCB appointed a new set of selectors, reducing the selection committee’s size from seven to five members. Led by former pacer Aaqib Javed, the commitee includes Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Hassan Cheema, while the captain and the head coach have been stripped of their voting rights in the selection process.
Aaqib, who has played in many memorable India-Pakistan matches, recently had a chance encounter with India’s head coach and former batsman, Gautam Gambhir.
Talking about that meeting in a podcast, Aaqib narrated how even Gambhir expressed concerns about Pakistan’s descending graph.
“We met the Indian players during our series against Sri Lanka. Gautam Gambhir ne mujhe kaha ke ‘Aaqib bhai, yeh Pakistan cricket ko kya ho gaya hai? Itna talent hai, hum bhi dekhte hain, sab kuch hai, inhone kiya kya hai?’ (Gambhir asked me what has happened to Pakistan cricket despite so much talent and eventhing, what have they done?)” said Aaqib.
The former pacer, who played in 22 Tests and 163 ODIs, said Pakistan’s fall has taken the sheen out of India-Pakistan encounters.
“He (Gambhir) also feels sorry about it, because there are a few (top-level) teams, and the Pakistan-India matches provide the biggest thrill. So if your team (Pakistan) falls like that then one of the game’s biggest matches loses its charm.”
“ICC mei log haste hain (people in the ICC laugh about it),” he concluded.
