Not Babar, Shaheen! PCB Seeks Help From 20 Former Cricketers To Ignite A New Era In Pakistan Cricket

Posted by Admin July 9, 2024 Cricket

Updated Jul 10, 2024, 00:11 IST

After Pakistan’s disastrous T20 World Cup 2024 campaign last month, the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi met former cricketers including Sarfaraz Ahmed, Salman Butt and others and asked for suggestions to revive the cricket in the country. During the meeting, the fitness of the players and their performances in the recently concluded T20 World Cup were also discussed.

PCB chief meets former Pakistan players

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi meets former Pakistan cricketers
PCB chief seeks suggestion to revive Pakistan cricket post T20 World Cup 2024
No discussions on Babar Azam’s captaincy future

As many as twenty former Pakistan players met the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi in Lahore and gave recommendations to improve the performance of the national cricket team following its disastrous T20 World Cup 2024 campaign last month.

During the meeting, the fitness of the players and their performances in the recently concluded T20 World Cup were also discussed and many suggestions were put forward as potential ways to fix the woes in Pakistan cricket.

According to a PCB media release, attendees of the meeting included Abdur Rauf, Aamer Malik, Asim Kamal, Azhar Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Basit Ali, Haroon Rashid, Ijaz Ahmed, Intikhab Alam, Iqbal Qasim, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Khan, Saleem Altaf, Saleem Yousuf, Salman Butt, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sadiq Mohammad, Shafiq Ahmad, Shafqat Rana, Sikander Bakht, Wajahatullah Wasti, Yasir Hameed and Yasir Shah and other PCB officials.

Notably, the Babar Azam led Pakistan suffered a shocking exit in the group stage of the T20 World Cup last month after they lost to USA and arch-rivals India and PCB chief had called for a “surgery” after the team’s disappointing performance.

Not only as captain, Babar was also criticised for his slow batting approach during the tournament. However, according to a Dawn report, there was no discussion on Babar’s captaincy during the meeting.

The report added that the likes of Intiqab Alam, Sadiq Mohammad, Iqbal Qasim, Haroon Rasheed, Salim Altaf, Sikandar Bakhat, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shafqat Rana, Rashid Khan and Wajahatullah Wasti – criticised the selection of the national squad for the T20 World Cup 2024.

During the meeting, it was agreed to improve the infrastructure of domestic cricket including first-class matches and Under 19 tournaments. It was also mutually agreed upon that PCB should also arrange more matches in the summer season just like the winter season.

The former players also raised their concerns regarding the need for improvement in the coaching field both in domestic cricket and grassroots level.

As per PCB media release, the Chairman Mohsin Naqvi assured the former players that their valuable suggestions will be implemented going forward.

“The consultation with the former players will consistently take place to continue the betterment of Pakistan Cricket. The PCB will go to all lengths to uplift the standard of the game in the country,” Naqvi said.

“As many of the former players mentioned, the focus of PCB will surely be on improving the first-class game and the Under 19 tournaments. To adjust more games during the summer season in our domestic window, we are exploring venues in the northern areas like Abbottabad and Hunza.

I do fully understand the need for bringing the quality of coaches to International standards and the PCB will take urgent measures to achieve that. We also have the quality of the pitches in our mind and they will be improved as well,” he added.