Not right to blame one individual: Mohammad Hafeez takes a dig at PCB for PSL postponement

Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has taken a dig at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the postponement of PSL 2021. He stated that PCB should take responsibility for the situation rather than blaming certain individuals.

Mohammad Hafeez was speaking of Dr. Sohail Saleem, the head of the PCB’s Medical and Sports Sciences department. Saleem stepped down from his position following the scrutiny that the PCB faced regarding the breaches in the tournament's bio-secure bubble:

“It is a very unfortunate scenario as a Pakistani and as a cricketer. We all have played our roles in bringing cricket back to Pakistan. You can call it mismanagement or bad planning, but I believe it has happened,” Mohammad Hafeez said while talking on a YouTube channel.

"Just like people take credit for small things, you also need to take responsibility for such a big incident. It is not right to blame the entire thing on just one person," Mohammad Hafeez stated.

PSL 2021 was postponed indefinitely following a rise in COVID-19 cases in the tournament's bio-secure bubble. As a consequence of this abrupt postponement, the blame games began as the organizers and the franchises looked to pinpoint a culprit for the situation.

The PCB's chief executive Wasim Khan, however, stressed that it was a collective failure in a press conference shortly after the PSL 2021 was deferred.

"This isn't about a blame game, about who's to blame. This is a collective effort that we all had a responsibility to actually police and self-police that environment. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do it effectively enough. Hence we find ourselves in this situation today. The bottom line is this is a collective failure and there has to be a sense of collective responsibility," said Wasim Khan.

Mohammad Hafeez stated that while the situation has severely impacted Pakistan Cricket's reputation, he is hopeful that things will be managed better going forward as the PCB announced that the PSL will resume in June in Karachi.

“We need to understand that our reputation has taken a major hit. I personally feel sorry because it shouldn’t have happened. I hope things are planned and managed better from here on so nothing like this happens again with Pakistan,” said Mohammad Hafeez.

The PCB has appointed a two-member independent committee to carry out a detailed review of the COVID-related protocols and procedures put in place. The individuals will be expected to identify any loopholes in the management of the bio-secure bubble and submit their findings to the PCB Chairman by March 31st.