Pakistan’s former inspirational skipper Imran Khan who led his country to World Cup glory in 1992 has said that there is “enough talent” in the country’s cricket team and all they need to do is to get the team combination right.
The legendary cricketer-turned-politician comments came on the aftermath of Pakistan’s departure from the Asia Cup 2016 as they lost to Bangladesh by five wickets. It was again the Pakistan batting which came under the scanner as the top-order crumbled once again.
At one stage, they were tottering at 28-4. It was largely due to the efforts of Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan managed to put up a decent total of 129-7 on the board. Bangladesh successfully chased the total in 19.1 overs and knocked Pakistan out of the tournament.
Country oozing with talent: Imran Khan
Imran acknowledged the fact that the Pakistan fans have every reason to feel disappointed as he feels the country is oozing with talent. He criticized the Pakistan Cricket Board and demanded some amendments that need to be made to the board to nurture and polish the talent.
He said, “ this talent can only be polished if PCB becomes an institution built on merit, [including] selection of its head purely on merit.”
Khan took the political angle too and sarcastically commented that how someone could expect the Pakistan Prime Minister to select the PCB chief based on merit when all the organizations are being headed by people rewarded for services to Sharifs.
Khan, for a long time, has been criticizing PCB and its functionings.Earlier, he also accuses PCB of “nepotism” and whined at the state of the game in his home country.
Tough times for Pakistan Cricket
Pakistan have been thoroughly unimpressive in the Asia Cup, winning just a single game against the United Arab Emirates. They were comprehensively outclassed by their arch-rivals India and now they have been humiliated by Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s batting has been below par in this tournament. Batsmen kept floundering game after game. Their captain looked jaded and out of ideas. The only bright spot for them in this tournament was the return of their tainted pacer Mohammad Amir who bowled exceptionally well against India.
The talent has always been there in Pakistan. It is just the case of managing them properly which they have not done well. If Pakistan can get their acts right, they can surely rise from the ashes. Maybe, they need a character like Imran to step up and inspire others to glory. Only time will tell.
