PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan believes lack of educated players causing Pakistan's failure

Shaharyar Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board has once again come into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. The 82-year-old Pakistani diplomat has gone on record to say that the lack of educated cricketers is one of the main reasons behind the nation's recent string of poor performances.

While talking to the Pakistani press in Quetta, Khan said, “There is no graduate player in the team right now except for Misbah and the absence of educated players in the team is a primary reason for its recent downfall. In future, we will do our best to induct and encourage educated players into the team and also groom the existing lot of talent.”

The PCB Chairman who happens to be the cousin of the former Indian international, Late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi has also confirmed the fact that Pakistan Cricket Board is no longer going to make any compromises regarding disciplinary issues from now on. “Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal have not been selected because of disciplinary issues and we want to make it clear in future we are not going to compromise on discipline or fitness,” Khan told the press.

“That is why we have had fresh fitness tests and now the boot camp under (the) supervision of military trainers in Kakul (near Abbottabad) before the team leaves for England," the PCB chief added.

Khan went on to shed light on the whole Pakistan U-19 debacle where a number of debatable selections were made prior to the team's ICC U-19 World Cup campaign that took place in Bangladesh, earlier this year. “It has come to our notice that some deserving players were left out to bring in less deserving ones and we are going to take strict action against those responsible for this. In future selection will be strictly merit and performance based,” he admitted.

While speaking about his decision to bring in the former Test cricketer, Mudassar Nazar into the National cricket Academy in Lahore, Shaharyar Khan said, “There is no more qualified coach than Mudassar to supervise our grass root cricket and he has made a big sacrifice by agreeing to resign from a lucrative coaching assignment in the ICC in Dubai and join us.”

The former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan has also spoken about his plans of inviting the Afghanistan cricket team to Quetta in order to help them develop. “The security situation has improved in Baluchistan and Quetta and we are planning to set up a full-fledged regional cricket academy in Quetta to tap the raw cricket talent in the province," he concluded.