History repeats itself — thanks to hidden hands of cricket

Whatever happened lately with Younis Khan is not a new thing in Pakistan cricket. This tussle between the players, the officials and the cricket board is an ongoing process.

Sometimes a captain bears the brunt, at other times an official comes in the line of fire.

But there are other forces too that, unfortunately, govern the game in our country. The hidden hands that come into action the moment they see a captain settling down and doing his job sincerely.

Starting from 1992, after the famous World Cup triumph in Australia, a bunch of players showed resentment over Imran Khan’s attitude and vowed not to let Imran lead the side on the England tour that followed.

The players believed that Imran’s focus was now the upcoming Shaukat Khanum Hospital and he would be more keen to raise funds during the England tour than concentrate on the game.

Amid that pressure, Imran finally backed off and Javed Miandad was appointed as captain.

Soon afterwards, though, Miandad was also removed to accommodate yet another skipper, Wasim Akram.

This triggered off a bitter row between the players which culminated in a revolt against Wasim who was then replaced by Salim Malik. The uneasy relationship between the players, however, continued.

Not so far back, in 2000, Moin Khan was given the charge of Pakistan cricket team.

However, after developing serious difference with the board, Moin was forced to pass the mantle to Waqar Younis who tried his best to bring some method to the madness but he too, met the same fate and was forced to quit after the 2003 World Cup.

I took over from where Waqar left with the team going through a rebuilding phase. But just when things were progressing, the love-hate relation between the board and myself turned ugly and I too was shown the door.

Burly Inzamam-ul-Haq was now handed the honour to lead the national side but, with problems galore, Inzamam after sometime started to show his muscle to the board which, coupled with the 2007 World Cup disaster, eventually resulted in his ouster.

After Inzamam’s departure the board opted for Younis Khan but he refused captaincy while Mohammed Yousuf was ignored as leadership candidate, for reasons best known to the PCB.

Finally, young Shoaib Malik was asked to do the job. Yet again, the hidden hands came into action and, subsequently, Younis Khan was named to lead the national side.

Under Younis, the team took off superbly, winning the World Twenty20 as well as reaching the Champions Trophy semi-finals. But things are again starting to go wrong and have forced Younis to take a break from international cricket.

One wonders how long this bitterness between the captain and a few others will last but the fact that it is beginning to hurt Pakistan cricket is for all to see.

The big question is how long will these hidden quarters be allowed to make or break the team in Pakistan? They throw their weight when a makeshift opener is accommodated but when specialist openers are picked, these very forces take a U-turn and slight the captain for the move.

The same is the case with playing the younger players or resting the experienced ones.

When the younger players are provided with an opportunity, these forces jump to the defence of seniors and question their omission? And when the younger players are given the backseat to accommodate the stalwarts, these very forces make life hell for the selectors and the captain?

I strongly feel that in order to curb this nasty practice — of imposition of respective agendas by some quarters — the cricket board must be firm and should back the captain all the way.

Not just captains but the coaches have also been dealt roughly by these quarters, without any dignity. What happened with Waqar Younis during his tenure as bowling coach?

He worked so hard with the faster bowlers and really checked the no-ball disease. Yet he was removed unceremoniously and under tremendous pressure.

Lately, Australia’s Geoff Lawson was removed in much the similar manner. The work he did with the players was beginning to show some results — the new and improved Shahid Afridi being the prime example, but the hidden hands influenced the board to axe him on a week’s notice.

Now Yousuf has been given the responsibility, but will that be effective as damage control measure? Who can guarantee that he will keep these conniving hidden hands at bay for long?

As they say that the future is planned in the present, the strategists must plan for the future and must workout who will takeover after Yousuf or Younis before the hidden hands strike again.