At centre of PCB chaos, no ifs, it's only Butt

This should be just about the cricket but sadly little in Pakistan ever is. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to suspend Shahid Afridi’s central contract and revoke all his no-objection certificates (NOCs) with immediate effect is threatening to blow up into the kind of controversy that has been Pakistan cricket’s staple diet for a few years now. The latest episode almost seem to say that if our cricket can’t keep us in the news, then controversy can. [caption id=“attachment_18936” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Pakistani cricket is caught in a mire of controversies. Vivek Prakash/Reuters”]  [/caption] Afridi, who led Pakistan to this year’s World Cup semi-finals, was replaced as One-Day captain by Misbah-ul-Haq after publicly criticising Waqar Younis during the 3-2 series win in the Caribbean. The decision came out of the blue like almost everything that has been part of the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt’s tenure. In October 2008, Butt was appointed chairman and soon rapid, random changes started taking place. The captaincy of the Pakistan team has changed as many as nine times, the coach has been changed thrice and the chief selector four times. In fact, the only constant of Butt’s tenure is Butt himself. A show-cause notice has been issued by the PCB to Afridi seeking his explanation over the comments. Afridi has been asked to respond to the letter within seven days of receipt of the same. Meanwhile, in a short chat with the press, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said he had accepted the resignation of Afridi. To a question that Afridi had tendered a conditional resignation from the international cricket as he did not want to play cricket under Ijaz’s reign, the chairman said that was up to him. “He has violated the contract codes and like any other player he now has to explain his actions to the board,” Butt said. But who questions Butt? His actions have slowly but surely pulled Pakistan into ruin’s embrace and it can’t be comfortable being a Pakistan cricketer. If Butt’s madness wasn’t enough, now we have the issue being given a political tilt. Pakistan Sports Minister Engineer Shaukatullah is saying he is with the player. “I am with Afridi and will support him in this issue. Ijaz Butt has been running the board like his own kingdom and it is time he was held accountable for his actions and sacked,” the minister said. He said he would be speaking to the prime minister to apprise him of the shambles in which Pakistan cricket was and to take steps to restore Afridi as captain and change the board set-up. The heads of the National Assembly and Senate standing committees on sports, Iqbal Mohammad Ali and Ghaffar Qureshi, have also come out in favor of the temperamental all-rounder blaming Butt for the fresh crisis in Pakistan cricket. “These players are our assets and they are not being treated justly by Butt and the board. There is a limit to this problem of senior players being disrespected by the board. We are going to ask the government to take immediate notice and change the board set-up,” Iqbal said. Qureshi insisted Afridi remained a valuable player and had committed no crime to be treated this way. For Pakistan to find its way back into the top realm of international cricket, it needs strong leadership and this certainly isn’t the way to provide it. There has to be a genuine fear that Pakistan might soon go the West Indies way. With no international teams touring Pakistan, it is only a matter of time because the talent starts to dry up. Then perhaps we’ll see a real crisis. With inputs from PTI