Pakistan defeated South Africa in a T20 series but our team’s performance has been disappointing overall recently
“Hello! Are you watching the match on TV? If not, turn it on and see the crowd — it’s packed! Tickets were impossible to get. Kids, youngsters, old men — everyone’s enjoying the game at Gaddafi Stadium. And yet you people keep saying cricket is finished in Pakistan, that it’s going the same way as hockey, that people have lost interest. If that’s true, then why is the Lahore stadium full?
Why was Rawalpindi house full? Remember my words — cricket runs in Pakistanis’ DNA. No one can take it out of us.
We just defeated South Africa in a T20 series — a reason to celebrate indeed. But if we look at the last few years, our team’s performance has been quite disappointing, especially in big tournaments.
Maybe that’s why many of us started feeling that Pakistan cricket was nearing its end, that there was no hope left, that people had stopped caring about it.
But if we think calmly, that feeling isn’t accurate. Cricket is still Pakistan’s most popular sport.
Billions are earned through sponsorships; players have become millionaires. If there wasn’t passion for the game, why would sponsors invest such sums? Of course, we must work on improving the team’s performance — but we should also encourage our players.
The problem is, if we don’t like Najam Sethi or Zaka Ashraf, we start claiming that cricket was ruined during their tenures. Now, those who dislike Mohsin Naqvi blame him for everything. But in truth, our cricket was like this even before he became chairman. It’s not as if we were winning World Cups before him!
We don’t like a captain, so we start tearing him apart. Everyone wants “their” preferred chairman, captain, and players. If they don’t get them, nothing seems right. Sure, Salman Ali Agha — as a player and captain — has room for improvement. But before him, did we always beat India except for one or two occasions?
The real issue is today’s social media environment. It’s so easy to manipulate public opinion now. Traditional media still used to exercise some caution — but these days, pay a few thousand or a few lakh rupees, and you can get a whole campaign run for you.
Previously, there was a “shadow ” over the entire team — nothing happened without approval, and new players couldn’t even get in. Then came a story from England that dimmed that “shadow,” but social media influence continued as before.
Look at Ali Tareen — he’s considering rebidding his PSL franchise because the annual franchise fee of 1.8 billion rupees is becoming unbearable. But social media spun it differently — painting him as a hero being punished for “exposing” flaws in the PSL system. No one asked why he stayed silent before, why this “heroism” appeared only when Valuation was due.
Similarly, when Mohammad Rizwan was removed as ODI captain, social media claimed it was “revenge” because two years ago he refused to promote surrogate betting companies during the PSL. And people believed it! No one asked: if that incident happened years ago, why punish him now? He’s not even been dropped from the team. Moreover, no PSL or PCB sponsor today is a surrogate company — so what’s the issue?
The point is this: whether it’s Mohsin Naqvi or Najam Sethi as chairman, or Salman Ali Agha or Babar Azam as captain — it doesn’t matter. What matters is Pakistan, and the Pakistan cricket team. Focus on that. Leave aside personal likes and dislikes. Identify what’s wrong and help fix it.
Even I, at times, write harshly in passion. But then I remind myself — it’s cricket that gave me everything:. If the sport ever suffers, should I abandon it or try to help however I can? All of us need to think like that.
We’ve just won a series — tomorrow, we might lose one. That doesn’t mean cricket in Pakistan is over. The real questions are: why is new talent drying up? How can we bring improvement? If we focus on these issues — and the board also plays its part — trust me, solutions will come.