Former Test captain Moin Khan fears that Pakistan may struggle to arrange bilateral series with top teams in the world if the national team continues to perform poorly. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who competed in 69 Tests and 219 ODIs for Pakistan, minced no words in blaming the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its selectors for the current state of affairs. “We have been struggling in all formats but notably in Test matches and if this trend continues I am afraid people will lose interest in Pakistan cricket,” Moin said on a podcast.
“We might find ourselves relegated to the bottom half of the cricket world finding it difficult to get bilateral series with top teams.
“I blame the frequent changes being made by the board in the cricket system including appointments/removal of captains, coaches, players and the inexplicable calls made by the national selectors.
“Unless you don’t have continuity, stability and faith in a captain, coach or players, how can you expect to achieve good results,” he said.
Moin said in the last few years the frequent changes in domestic cricket and the national team had hit Pakistan cricket hard and players were losing confidence in the system.
Moin who earned a reputation as being a fighting cricketer and a man of crisis also noted that the PCB took decisions not as an institution but as per the personnel wishes of those who are in positions of power in the board at a given time.
“Whenever a chairman and management team is changed you see things change in our cricket system which are not necessarily productive. So where is the stability?,” he asked.
Moin also didn’t spare the players and expressed disappointment at the attitude of some players.
“I don’t want to harp on the past but to me it seems most players nowadays don’t give enough time to developing their skills and cricket temperament. It is more about how much money we can make in leagues rather than setting and reaching personal goals of excellence as a cricketer.” Moin said when a player was successful money followed automatically. “When I played we earned in lakhs. Nowadays players earn in crores but players must also remember nothing is greater than playing for your country with success.” Moin said he had also always told his son, Azam Khan (who has played T20 internationals) to give priority to playing for Pakistan than private leagues.
“I guess priorities have changed for players now. The PCB and selectors have not helped by devaluing the Pakistan cap,” he added.
Moin said when he played, getting into the Pakistan team and remaining there required a lot of hard work, sacrifice and hours of preparation.
“People ask me how you always got runs in a crisis situation and I tell them it is all about how well you prepare as a player for the matches.” Moin also lamented the state of pace bowling in Pakistan.
“Bowlers are not willing to put in the hours. I played with greats like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and I can tell you the perfection of bowling on any sort of pitch and increased pace only comes when you put in long hours in the nets.” He made it clear all these greats worked very hard on their skills and fitness by themselves.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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