It was not long ago; when Mohd Amir made his debut for Pakistan; A young lad suddenly was handed over Pakistan international Kit and given the new ball to start proceedings. A kid like excitement and million dollar smile was evident on his debut. A year or so later not many thought that the very smile would turn into evil grin. It is unfortunate for cricket that bad guys got him before good guys could reach out to him. If there was good brotherly hand over his shoulder guiding him on to the right path. Encouraging the youngsters and pointing the right reward for the long fruitful career rather than falling for low hanging fruit and committing crime for petty rewards which would eventually lead to darkness.
Integrity is not a virtue which many in Pakistan consider to be important and consider a need to pass on the same to younger generation. Remember while watching Australian match; Allan border made an interesting comment about the Cricket & the money involved with it; take care of Runs & Wickets, rest the money would follow. Greed, quick money & lifestyle involved is catching up on the young cricketers who would value stint in IPL compared to play for country for 10-15 years.
Ball tempering, Performance enhancing drugs & finally match fixing you name it and it’s all there for one to see what all Pakistan team and more importantly Pakistan board has gone through. One needs to ask a question to this young generation why do they play this game. If the answer is love the competition, if that it gives immense pride while walking out in national colors and represent those millions back home and to live up to their expectation or is it the challenge which would make you the best in the game which each one of us love so much. Invariably the reward these would be handsome and more importantly it would give you cult status where respect is the core foundation of how people look at you.
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. Unfortunately younger cricket generation is following these footsteps. It is our choice & paths we choose tells us who we are. Have always maintained that Talent is secondary it is the attitude which is critical and decides what shall you achieve both morally & professionally.
One might want to argue that Pakistan’s cricketers are not paid enough to make them lure into evil of Fixing and so on. Pakistan's players do not get paid as much as counterparts around the world, it is being said. This is true. They have also missed out on the life-changing riches of the Indian Premier League. But at 250,000 rupees (£1,900), 175,000 rupees and 100,000 rupees per month in the three grades of the PCB's central contracts, they are not paid peanuts. They live in Pakistan, not India, Australia or England, and in this country I am sure that kind of salary is seen by very, very few.
During Sting operation on Mazar Majid; he made an interesting statement; They are so much romantically involved with peculiar hoard mentality: get in quick, get rich quicker because you never know when you will be out forever, from a job, from politics, from a team. There is no consistency what so ever; I would not be surprised by the statistics on total number of players in last decade or two made their debut for Pakistan and then were never ever seen. One classic example being classic left hander Asim Kamal. Over the past few years particularly, modernization and glamour has eaten away Pakistan’s Cricketer, which has long been sweet on ostentation in any case. Just having wealth is not enough. Showing people you have it is more important.
Pakistan Cricket Board cannot be relied upon to handle an email, so handling the life and career of a boy is out of the question. The PCB administration changes more frequently then Bollywood actress changing their outfits. They will not protect them from anyone; if fans, journalists, politicians and bookies want a piece of a player, the PCB do not get in the way. Neither have players here ever helped themselves; thrice efforts have been made to form a players' association and thrice they have failed. It is the strongest indictment of a culture where everyone is out for himself. Nobody is there to warn young players of the ways of this new world they inhabit, because stardom in Pakistan really is the loneliest pursuit. And maybe it is not even as much about the rural-urban shift as much as it is a class shift, from making money to live to making money for money's sake.
Cricket in Pakistan has handed the task of running the Cricket board into the wrong hands. and in doing so let down the cricket lovers who seek their identity from the way their national team plays. Across the cricket world, the Pakistan board has little respect, and it is not difficult to imagine that the decay would begin there.
Integrity is not a virtue which many in Pakistan consider to be important and consider a need to pass on the same to younger generation. Remember while watching Australian match; Allan border made an interesting comment about the Cricket & the money involved with it; take care of Runs & Wickets, rest the money would follow. Greed, quick money & lifestyle involved is catching up on the young cricketers who would value stint in IPL compared to play for country for 10-15 years.
Ball tempering, Performance enhancing drugs & finally match fixing you name it and it’s all there for one to see what all Pakistan team and more importantly Pakistan board has gone through. One needs to ask a question to this young generation why do they play this game. If the answer is love the competition, if that it gives immense pride while walking out in national colors and represent those millions back home and to live up to their expectation or is it the challenge which would make you the best in the game which each one of us love so much. Invariably the reward these would be handsome and more importantly it would give you cult status where respect is the core foundation of how people look at you.
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. Unfortunately younger cricket generation is following these footsteps. It is our choice & paths we choose tells us who we are. Have always maintained that Talent is secondary it is the attitude which is critical and decides what shall you achieve both morally & professionally.
One might want to argue that Pakistan’s cricketers are not paid enough to make them lure into evil of Fixing and so on. Pakistan's players do not get paid as much as counterparts around the world, it is being said. This is true. They have also missed out on the life-changing riches of the Indian Premier League. But at 250,000 rupees (£1,900), 175,000 rupees and 100,000 rupees per month in the three grades of the PCB's central contracts, they are not paid peanuts. They live in Pakistan, not India, Australia or England, and in this country I am sure that kind of salary is seen by very, very few.
During Sting operation on Mazar Majid; he made an interesting statement; They are so much romantically involved with peculiar hoard mentality: get in quick, get rich quicker because you never know when you will be out forever, from a job, from politics, from a team. There is no consistency what so ever; I would not be surprised by the statistics on total number of players in last decade or two made their debut for Pakistan and then were never ever seen. One classic example being classic left hander Asim Kamal. Over the past few years particularly, modernization and glamour has eaten away Pakistan’s Cricketer, which has long been sweet on ostentation in any case. Just having wealth is not enough. Showing people you have it is more important.
Pakistan Cricket Board cannot be relied upon to handle an email, so handling the life and career of a boy is out of the question. The PCB administration changes more frequently then Bollywood actress changing their outfits. They will not protect them from anyone; if fans, journalists, politicians and bookies want a piece of a player, the PCB do not get in the way. Neither have players here ever helped themselves; thrice efforts have been made to form a players' association and thrice they have failed. It is the strongest indictment of a culture where everyone is out for himself. Nobody is there to warn young players of the ways of this new world they inhabit, because stardom in Pakistan really is the loneliest pursuit. And maybe it is not even as much about the rural-urban shift as much as it is a class shift, from making money to live to making money for money's sake.
Cricket in Pakistan has handed the task of running the Cricket board into the wrong hands. and in doing so let down the cricket lovers who seek their identity from the way their national team plays. Across the cricket world, the Pakistan board has little respect, and it is not difficult to imagine that the decay would begin there.
No matter how much we criticize the BCCI for being manipulative or showing off the financial muscle to arm twist ICC and get decisions in their favor; but let’s make no mistake in applauding them for handling the players as they are and running the administration as a corporate organization with rules and constitution being in place. IPL has revolutionized the way cricket has been positioned till date. IPL no matter has some of its own controversies to take care of but at the heart of it; the intentions are to make it a global brand and while successful brands churn lot of money they also do bring Values which are the DNA of any organization and hence enabling it to gain respect amongst stakeholders and consumers.
They way Indian cricket is been watched by the world is largely due to the attributes of integrity worn by few good men like Sachin, Saurav, Dravid, Kumble, Lakshman, Srinath, and others who have served the game with honesty rather than longer time representing the country.
Having said that; as the most financially capable ICC associate we can always share the responsibility and be extra vigilant of making sure that Indian Young talent does not give up for the riches rather than morals and playing for the nation taking the first priority rather than getting in quick, make quick money and get out. In India too we are more than hyper reactive & animated from time to time; Nation needs to remind oneself there are greater evils to tackle compared to some one bowling a no ball in the wake of poor advise from senior pro.
As Rahul Dravid (for me the Epitome of integrity as far as Indian Cricket is concerned) mentioned this is the great opportunity to be unforgiving and remove this evil from its root while it has left a deep scar on Cricket fans heart. Someone; most likely ICC – The custodians of the game are answerable to millions of cricket fanatics who sacrifice a lot in their personal lives to watch a game and admire their favorite cricketers. ICC has the best opportunity up its sleeve to clean the game and it would be nothing less but criminal to miss out an opportunity to clean the game and re-instate the trust in those who find peace in cricket while their daily lives are affected by terrorism.
And to certain politicians in Pakistan I would advise; show conspiracy theories the door; for the world neither has the time, nor does it benefit from, conspiring against them and trust me there are better things to take care about; rather than belittling Pakistan as a nation; I am afraid; after Fixing Fiasco there is not much left to defame Pakistan.
