Ganesh Kendale
Things in Pakistan cricket took a turn for the worse on Saturday when one of the national selectors, Mohammad Yousuf, resigned from his position following continued criticism since the team’s failure in the T20 World Cup and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) overlooking consistent performers in domestic cricket. The effects of that were clearly felt in batsman Iftikhar Ahmed‘s press conference following the Champions Cup final.
Markhors‘ skipper, Iftikhar, was visibly upset after his team’s defeat by Panthers and vented out at a reporter over a question on the young talent emerging from the Champions Cup.
When asked which young players, according to him, the tournament has unveiled, Iftikhar blamed the media for unnecessary hype.
“Media ne kya dekh liya hai (what has the media observed)?” he shot back at the reporter.
“See, I am not against anyone, but I tell you people, the media, that don’t hype someone so much after just one innings, like we have got this and that talent. Let them (youngsters) perform in domestic cricket. Let them succeed there 2-3 seasons, then talk about their prospects to play for Pakistan,” he said without taking any names.
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“Ek innings mei aap upar le ke jaate, fir wahan pe jab woh Pakistan ke liye fail ho jata hai, toh kehte ho ‘yeh kahan se laye ho, yeh toh kuchh bhi nahi hai’ (media puts a batsman on cloud nine after just one innings and when that batsman fails while playing for Pakistan, you guys say ‘where has this come from, it’s nothing’),” said Iftikhar.
However, former Pakistan players like Ahmed Shehzad have been continuously criticising the PCB for not giving young talent a chance and keeping inconsistent performers in the team for longer than they deserve.
But Iftikhar reiterated that youngsters should be considered for Pakistan only after they have succeeded in domestic cricket for a couple of seasons and not just after one good innings.
“For god sake, let a player succeed in all formats in domestic cricket, then talk about him. You guys talk so much, like ‘Pakistan has got another Inzamam’…I am not against anyone. I am telling everyone to give domestic cricket its due respect. Let a player succeed there in all formats. Then let’s all of us talk about that player,” said the 34-year-old all-rounder who has played 4 Tests, 28 ODIs and 66 T20Is.
He went on to blame the media for spoiling the cricket atmosphere in the country.
“Aap logon ki wajah se cricket ka jo sara mahaul hai woh kharab ho gaya hai (things in Pakistan cricket have gone bad because of you guys). The reason is that you guys hype someone so much after just one innings, and then you bring him down to earth,” Iftikhar concluded.
