TROUBLE

National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports puts Pakistan cricket in crisis

Disheartened and annoyed Younis quits captaincy

* PCB refuses to accept decision of star batsman, former Test cricketers blast politicians

By Muhammad Ali 

lahore: Pakistan cricket has plunged into fresh crisis as Younis Khan has resigned from captaincy. The drama took place in Islamabad on Tuesday during a National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports hearing that was held to discuss the performance of the national team in the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. Pakistan’s close one-wicket loss to Australia in a group match and their defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the semi-final by five wickets sparked allegations from a parliamentarian that the team threw the matches and under-performed deliberately.

This obtuse show started with a report in the Indian newspaper after Pakistan’s semi-final loss to the Black Caps and Younis’ crucial dropped catch off Grant Elliot. The bizarre Indian report hinted at match-fixing. The International Cricket Council (ICC) immediately cracked down on the report and though it was retracted the next day, but in Pakistan it was blown out of proportion in the following days without any sanity and logic.

Younis submitted his resignation during the hearing to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt, protesting the statement made by standing committee chairman Jamshed Dasti, who had made the allegations before retracting them and saying that he had been misunderstood. Dasti, however, summoned the team management including the captain and coach Intikhab Alam for the hearing to ‘clear the air’. To call the PCB officials and team skipper was perhaps the most illogical decision. Dasti’s allegations, retraction and the so-called hearing clearly showed that how much he loves to be in the limelight.

Younis refused to take back his resignation despite persuasion by Ijaz. Younis, who had taken strong exception to the allegations, had insisted that their last-ball win against Australia that closed the doors on India’s chances in the Champions Trophy was not fixed. He had also refuted claims that Pakistan had thrown away their semi-final game against New Zealand. Younis said he led the team with an injured finger and felt disappointed at being summoned for investigation. “I set an example and led the team from the front despite having my finger injured.” Intikhab, who was also present at the meeting, blamed the Indian media for raking up the controversy. “It was an emotional decision on the part of Younis to tender his resignation. It was a propaganda by Indians. We have rejected match-fixing allegations,” said Intikhab. The PCB chief said the 31-year-old captain’s resignation was rejected and the matter would be discussed later. “At this stage I can only say if he sticks to his decision then his resignation will be discussed by the Governing Council of the board at its next meeting on October 19,” Ijaz said.

The development has been criticised by former players, who blame it on political interference and called it a blow to the sport in the country. “Politicians have no need to interfere in cricket and they have not only snatched our captain but have damaged the game badly,” former captain Ramiz Raja said. “Our honourable captain was insulted by the investigation and we acted on baseless allegations.”

Another former captain Rashid Latif blamed the media and the PCB. “I think the media was irresponsible by relaying an inauthentic statement by someone and Younis, being an honourable man, resigned over that. I don’t see him taking his decision back,” he said. Former captain Aamir Sohail termed Younis’ decision ‘emotional’. “Younis has acted in haste and with emotion. The Pakistan team needs him and he shouldn’t have felt so strongly about the investigation. This is very common in Pakistan, so he should withdraw his resignation,” said Sohail.

Younis has a history with captaincy. He once stepped down from his role as stand-in skipper, days before the 2006 Champions Trophy, because he was unhappy with the board administration over a number of seemingly trivial issues. Once the administration changed, however, he took up the role again. A few months later, after the 2007 World Cup and Inzamamul Haq’s resignation, he turned down the captaincy claiming later that the environment and circumstances at the time were not right for him to take it up. He only took over as full-time captain in February this year, after Shoaib Malik was pushed aside.

There is no doubt that this entire exercise, without having substantial evidence, by the parliamentarians has not only demoralised the national team members but also ridiculed the country around the globe. After winning the Twenty20 World Cup in England this year, Pakistan cricket has seen a fairly upward trend in fortunes but the ‘circus’ like the one conducted by the standing committee has put the sport, considered a religion in this part of the world, in crisis. No one has ever seen lawmakers of other countries treading on this idiotic path: acting on speculations and maligning their sports stars without any credible proof. The honourable members of the National Assembly should concentrate more on solving problems of people of their constituencies, law-making and matters of national importance. They should stop playing with the integrity of national athletes who are always striving hard to put Pakistan’s flag on top of the world.