Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief and former Pakistani captain Imran Khan expressed his displeasure over his country’s state of cricket. He took to Twitter to say how disappointed he was over Pakistan’s dismal performance against India and in the recent past.
Pak cricket cannot be fixed if the Chairman of the PCB is not appointed on professional merit.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 4, 2017Election-fixers & others who are rewarded merely for loyalty to the Sharifs will never reform Pak cricket https://t.co/rrex8TJS0Z
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 4, 2017And we will keep facing disappointment by defeats such as the one today. https://t.co/noxfc7srWN
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 4, 2017Pakistan’s woes began after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus back in 2009. The incident occurred at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore where six policemen and two civilians were killed. Umpire Ahsan Raza was shot twice, and two Sri Lankan players were gravely injured. Previously Australia and New Zealand had cancelled their tours in the country owing to security reasons.
This sealed Pakistan cricket’s fate. Most international cricket teams refused to tour Pakistan. Pakistan’s cricketers criticised the arrangements. Domestic cricket was in a terrible shape, and existing cricketers failed in getting better in their game. The following year saw three top Pakistani cricketers, Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were handed five to ten-year bans for a spot-fixing scandal.
Not only this, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been accused of corruption. Pakistani batting legend Javed Miandad said that PCB should involve ex-cricketers in their administrative affairs. Otherwise, he says that the team will be putting up disastrous performances.
Former Pakistan Captain Misbah-ul-Haq believes that the country's domestic structure is behind their struggles in the One Day International (ODI) format.
Test legend Waqar Younis condemned current Pakistani batsman Umar Akmal after he was sent home from England for failing a fitness test on the eve of the Champions Trophy and said that Umar should be ashamed to have been deemed unfit by his coach and sent back. He stated that this episode damaged Pakistan’s reputation.
Trouble has been brewing between the players as well. Umar Akmal was fined half his match fee after questioning his teammate Junaid Khan’s absence during a game in the Pakistan Cup.
After the debacle against India, Imran Khan tweeted that it was painful to watch Pakistan being thrashed by India without putting up a fight. He also called for a revamp of the existing cricket structure in Pakistan. This was also voiced by Shoaib Akhtar.
As a sportsman I know winning & losing are part of the game but it's painful to watch Pak being thrashed by India without putting up a fight
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 4, 2017Disappointing result but now it's time 2 revamp the structure for domestic cricket and the cricket board if we want to improve..
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) June 4, 2017Imran’s former compatriot Ramiz Raja said the Pakistan needs a course correction.
Deep breaths ..count till 10 ...try to hold back your emotions .. know it's tough..this team needs a course correction and how...am angry 😡
— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) June 4, 2017Pakistan is languishing at the No 8 spot in ICC ODI team rankings while India is in No 2, even though they have played more matches than India. And so Pakistan needs to do something about reinvigorating its cricket and do it quick. Otherwise, we may have to see more such lacklustre and uninspiring matches from a team that would terrorise others at one point in time.