Pakistan cricket enthusiasts observed some of the worst performances from the national cricket team in recent months, first in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and then in the World Cup T20 in India.
A series of wholesale changes in the Pakistan team, team management and PCB setup has also been started following the pathetic show in the World T20 Championship where the Pakistan team could win only one match out of four games.
The captain, head coach and selection committee have been sacked and more “notable” dismissals are expected in the coming weeks.
According to reliable sources, the office of sitting chairman PCB, Shaharyar Khan, is also under threat and he could be the first high-profile casualty in the current PCB setup. “PCB chief has been intimated by the powers concerned to resign or wait for the next orders in days to come,” a source said.
In the first major development, the Pakistan Cricket Board disbanded the national selection committee and removed T20 captain Shahid Afridi and head coach Waqar Younis against the backdrop of poor performances of the team in the T20 Asia and World Cup tournaments.
The above-mentioned removals were made by the PCB chairman after studying the report prepared by a special committee on the team’s poor performance in the Asia Cup and the ICC World T20.
After reviewing the report of the special committee, the chairman immediately disbanded the selection committee headed by former Test batsman Haroon Rasheed.
Former captain Waqar Younis also “resigned” from his position and the PCB has initiated the process of inducting a new coach for the Pakistan team. For this purpose a panel comprising Wasim Akram and Rameez Raja has been formed to assist the board in finding a replacement for Waqar at the earliest.
It may be recalled here that Wasim was also included in a similar panel which had picked up Waqar Younis as head coach in 2014.
Waqar said Pakistan Cricket Board's failure to implement his recommendations after 2015 World Cup and the “leak” of his confidential report after the team's disastrous run at the World T20 played a big role in his decision to quit his post three months before his contract expires.
The 44-year-old took the job for the second time in 2014, having previously held the post in 2010-11.
He made a formidable partnership with Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq to lift the team to number two in the Test rankings late last year, a spot they had previously attained in 2006.
The fast-bowling legend, however, failed to reverse Pakistan's fortunes in the game's shorter formats, with the team ranked a lowly 7th and 8th in Twenty20 and One-day Internationals, respectively.
In his leaked report, Younis criticized the Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to not give him a say in the selection process and blasted the captaincy of Shahid Afridi.
Waqar believed that Pakistan lost the Asia Cup and the World T20 due to the poor captaincy of Shahid Afridi. “On several occasions, I had made it clear that Shahid Afridi was not performing with the bat, ball or as a captain but I was not listened to”.
Veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who was appointed T20 captain till the ICC World T20 2016, was also shown the door. However, the allrounder has expressed his intention to continue playing the shortest format of international cricket.
Though Afridi has had the honour to lead the Pakistan team in all three formats of the game, he could not produce encouraging results in any format.
After Pakistan team’s disappointing performance in the World T20 in India, Afridi took to Facebook to ask forgiveness from cricketing fans all over the country for what he termed his failure to meet the nation’s expectations.
Afridi and veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik both scored less than 100 runs in 4 matches and failed to take responsibility when the side needed it.
Afridi was also “off colour” with the ball as well and his side failed to make their presence felt at the world event and crashed out in the group stage.
Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam in his tour report termed Afridi a “clueless” captain in the wake of the team’s early exit from the series.
Alam heavily criticised the T20 skipper for his poor on-field tactics and off-field behaviour that threw the national cricket team into undue controversies.
Afridi has been a fan favourite since he burst onto the scene in 1996, striking a 37-ball century against Sri Lanka in only his second match, to set a world record that was unbeaten for 17 years.
He became known as a bowling all-rounder in the second half of his career and was instrumental in Pakistan's early successes in Twenty20 including their 2009 victory.
Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed has replaced Shahid Afridi as captain of Pakistan's Twenty20 team.
Sarfraz, 28, played in all the four World Twenty20 matches but batted lower down the order throughout the tournament despite having a good strike rate of 120.24 in 21 Twenty20 internationals.
Sarfraz also led Quetta Gladiators in Pakistan's first professional domestic Twenty20 league PSL in February before losing to the Misbah-ul-Haq-led Islamabad United in the final.
After being appointed as the captain of the Pakistan T20 side, Sarfraz thanked the skippers he played under since his international career kicked off in 2007. The wicketkeeper played during the captaincy tenures of Shoaib Malik, Salman Butt, M. Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq.
The board also decided to appoint a psychologist and a dietician for the players. It’s important to note that the special committee has described the fitness of the players as a major issue in the poor performance of the Pakistan team.
The national side's next assignment is an away tour to England which kicks off in July this year and will consist of four Tests, five ODIs and a one-off Twenty20 match. Pakistan is likely to play only three T20 internationals in the remainder of 2016, one against England and two against the world champion, the West Indies.
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