The Pakistani team’s sharp decline has been concerning, to put it politely. The series of widely discussed defeats is staggering.
Since 1998, the PCB has been led by hand-picked loyalists of the nation’s ruling governments, who destroy the game by running it in their own ridiculous ways.
Progress has been hampered by the PCB’s frequent chairperson changes—there have been five in the last three years. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is the current chair of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
There have been frequent changes to the coaching staff and leadership, as well as several redesigns to the domestic tournament structure.
As per publicly available data gathered by the opinion, PCB is worth 9 Billion PKR in revenue, PSL is worth 7 Billion PKR, and PSL teams combine are worth 8.3 Billion in revenue. PCB in totality is worth approximately 24.3 Billion PKR.
Lack of stability and consistency in decision making has destroyed PCB as an institution as whole.
Former captain Ramiz Raja’s stint as Chairman of the PCB was undoubtedly the most stable in terms of captaincy and player opportunities. Ramiz had a good relationship with then-captain Babar Azam and was willing to allow the captain make team-related decisions. Pakistan played the T20 World Cup Semi-Final and Final back-to-back under Babar Azam’s captaincy.
Najam Sethi became PCB’s chairman and brought back the famous cricket board musical chair shortly after former prime minister Imran Khan’s administration was overthrown by a no confidence motion. Najam Sethi, a close friend of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was able to secure a second term in office.
Zaka Ashraf then requested President Asif Ali Zardari to press the PML-N government to assume the chairmanship, which led to Najam Sethi’s removal.
Another key player who made ridiculous changes and ultimately destroyed the current Pakistani team was Zaka Ashraf. His plan to introduce everyone to captiancy has weakened the team’s unity in addition to causing a division among the players.
After removing Babar Azam, he named Shan Masood the red ball captain and Shaheen Afridi the white ball captain. Also, he surpassed Muhammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan, who were the vice captains at the time.
Mohsin Naqvi became the Chairman of PCB prior to the general elections in 2024, despite holding positions as interior minister and senator. Before the elections, Naqvi was also the interim chief minister of Punjab. Najam Sethi also held the position of interim chief minister of Punjab prior to his first term as chairman of the PCB. The PML-N became victorious in both elections.
Mohsin Naqvi appointed Wahab Riaz in PCB as a selector, senior manager, and close advisor. Wahab, a former international cricketer, also served in Naqvi’s interim government as sport minister.
The PCB fired Wahab Riaz following Pakistan’s failure in the T20 World Cup 2023. Former fast bowler Waqar Younis was called by PCB to look into cricket-related issues and advise the Chairman.
According to trusted sources, Waqar Younis is also concerned about this choice and may leave his position in the near future.
The back-to-back changes and a lack of cricket IQ have severely harmed the cricket board. The same group of players has performed well for the fans in recent years; it is not the cricketing skill, but the sincerity of those working in the PCB, that has had an enormous effect on Pakistan cricket.
