As though we don’t have enough troubles playing down our international image as a country of blood-thirsty fundamentalists and terrorists, we now have to put up with allegations of foul play and scandalous practices in cricket.
Mr Omar Qureshi, the venerable bard of Pakistani cricket, has lambasted the international press, and Australian cricketers in particular, for recently making allegations (fixing matches) against our cricketers. “Where is the evidence”, snorts Mr Qureshi, suggesting that there is some sort of a conspiratorial campaign to vilify our good name, perhaps in order to deny us an opportunity to host the World Cup next year. Mr Javed Burki has also assured us that there will be an enquiry to flush out the miscreants, if any, and that strong action will be taken against them.
Mr Qureshi’s patriotism notwithstanding, the “evidence” is there, and it is quite distressing. It has also been piling up for many years.
Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz have publicly admitted to ball ‘tampering’. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younus have happily sold stories to the Western media confirming that Pakistani cricketers have smoked dope. Asif Iqbal was once accused by teammates of “throwing” a test match in Calcutta because he had placed heavy bets against his own side. Imran Khan says that on one occasion, when he suspected that some teammates had bet on Pakistan losing a test match, he persuaded the others to place œ 20,000 from the teams’ prize money on winning it instead.
Now we are told that Salim Malik tried to induce some Australian cricketers to “throw” the last test match in Karachi. As if to confirm this, Basit Ali and Rashid Latif have informed the Western press that the first test match in Zimbabwe, which Pakistan lost against all odds, was fixed by Malik. In-between, Mushtaq Mohammad has admitted that he “joked” with Allan Border about the possibility of Australia losing a match in return for a large sum of money.
Since the Mighty Imi Khan abandoned cricket for nobler causes, discipline in the Pakistan cricket team has gone to pieces. If we have won a few series lately, it has been because of the prodigious talent of a few players rather than any discernable team effort. We saw the spectacle of an open revolt against Javed Miandad after he was appointed captain some years ago. The same thing happened to Wasim Akram when he was asked by the BCCP to lead the team. Now it is Salim Malik’s turn to wallow in the sludge.
At no stage did the BCCP take any disciplinary action against anyone. At every dismal stage, the cricket authorities in this country have been full of sound and fury but they have done nothing to instill a sense of discipline into the team. As a matter of fact, if the cricket team is splitting at the seams today, the indecision and disarray in the BCCP camp is no less palpable. Ad-hocism, north/south favouritism and opportunism have come to bedevil the cricket authorities in this country. Indeed, we seemed to touch rock bottom some years ago when Justice Nasim Hasan Shah and Mr Shahid Rafi were lording over the BCCP.
Now comes the World Cup, with Mr Asif Zardari in charge of the committee which is supposed to make sure that all goes according to plan. But will it?
Apart from ensuring that hotel accommodation, food, travel, stadium renovation, ground conditions, TV and press facilities, etc, will all be in order when the final is played in Lahore, Mr Zardari needs to consider preemptive measures against some potentially embarrassing problems related to crowd behaviour and the threat of terrorism during the matches, especially in Karachi. He should also cast an eye over the World-Cup related contracts doled out to various parties during the previous BCCP’s tenure. If something is subsequently shown to be amiss on any of these counts, we fear no one will pay two hoots about correctly fixing responsibility and Mr Zardari may unwittingly have to take the brunt of the blame which follows.
In the meanwhile, the BCCP has its job cut out for it. If it wants a good shot at the Cup next year, a strong dose of discipline should be injected into the team straight away. Those who have broken ranks and gone public with complaints against fellow members of the team should be rapped as much as those who sowed the seeds of discord in the first place. The manager’s role also needs to be separated from that of the coach — perhaps one of the national selectors (even Mr Burki) could “manage” the team during the Cup. We would also suggest that a special request be made to Imran Khan by President Farooq Leghari to lend a helping hand in these efforts.
Man to man, the Pakistanis are an enormously talented lot. But as a team, they have become dispirited and wayward. If Pakistan is to make it to the finals, and if the crowds are to be fired up for a memorable Cup, the time to act is now.