Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) has expressed serious reservations over the proposed procedure for the selection of regional cricket teams through drafting in the next domestic season.
The proposal was discussed at length in the meeting of PCB domestic affairs committee on July 12 in Lahore under the chairmanship of Shakeel Sheikh.
If PCB Governing Board approves this proposal, it will be the final nail in the coffin of Pakistan cricket. The members of the PCB Governing Board should beware of the conspiracy of a person sitting in the PCB doing all the wrong things
Sources in KCCA said that several suggestions had been discussed in the meeting. One of them is most controversial as far as the regional teams are concerned, they said.
As per details, the regional selection committee would select eight players for the next domestic season, while 12 would be selected through drafting which is unjust to the regional teams, KCCA officials say.
They say Karachi’s population is more than 25 million and it has more than 250 active cricket clubs. Karachi region is considered one of the biggest cricket regions in the cricket world.
It is being felt in the Karachi’s cricket circles that the new system is unfair and a continuation of step-motherly treatment with the regional teams, especially with Karachi, which is the only regional team to have qualified for Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. All other teams in the event are departmental.
KCCA officials say if PCB insisted on this proposal, Karachi region will strongly resist it.
PCB’s Executive Board meeting will be held on July 28 in Lahore, where this proposal will also be discussed with other cricket issues.
Thus KCCA has serious reservations on the new proposal of drafting system and if anyone forcibly implements it, the KCCA will oppose it with its full strength
The KCCA sources said they had already recorded their protest against inclusion of only one Karachi team in the domestic cricket. Considering the huge population of the city, it should be allowed to form two teams, they said.
KCCA officials said the strength of this region could be gauged from the fact that both finalist teams in “National T20 Tournament 2016” were of Karachi.
When PCB organized National One-Day Cup 2016-17, Karachi Blues reached the final of the event. Karachi’s Under-16 team has been winning the national championship for the past three years. Karachi’s Under-19 team has been winning the trophy for last two years.
Last year, Karachi region was the only one to have qualified for eight-team Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Thus KCCA has serious reservations on the new proposal of drafting system and if anyone forcibly implements it, the KCCA will oppose it with its full strength.
KCCA said that PCB was making fun of regional cricketers. “How is it possible to have select only eight players when we have 140 cricketers in our seven zones in inter-district championship!” said an official.
The official elaborated that PIA, Port Qasim Authority and State Bank of Pakistan which employ such players as Sarfraz Ahmed, Khurram Manzoor, Sami Aslam, Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Sami would play Grade II this year. “So when the region announces its team for Grade I, these big names will be automatic choices.
Then we can only pick eight players as 12 will be selected through drafting system. Where will our other players go? How will they get the chance to play first class cricket? None of the 140 players of Karachi’s seven zones will be able to play the top-level championship despite having proved their potential,” the KCCA official said.
He said nowhere in the world was there any example of picking players through drafting system for first class cricket. “Such absurd system is being introduced only in Pakistan’s domestic cricket system and there is only one man behind all this,” he added.
He said that PCB has adopted the policy of minimizing the role of regional cricket in the country. “This would devastate the game of cricket in Pakistan, and in coming years we will not find talented cricketers anywhere.
It is the regions whose officials work wholeheartedly at grassroots level and produce talented cricketers. They are destroying the system that made Pakistan the world champions in 1992, the T20 champions in 2009 and the champions at junior level several times.
“If PCB Governing Board approves this proposal, it will be the final nail in the coffin of Pakistan cricket. The members of the PCB Governing Board should beware of the conspiracy of a person sitting in the PCB doing all the wrong things. We will not let any person destroy the most loved game of cricket in Pakistan,” the official said.