Indian cricket's progress built upon strong domestic setup, Imran tells Pakistan

Published April 5, 2016
The 63-year-old believed that Pakistan has immense talent but there is a lack of playing grounds and training facilities. — Agencies/File
The 63-year-old believed that Pakistan has immense talent but there is a lack of playing grounds and training facilities. — Agencies/File

ISLAMABAD: The famous revolving door of Pakistan cricket will continue to swing if the structure of the game is not overhauled, former captain Imran Khan warned on Tuesday

T20 skipper Shahid Afridi and Head Coach Waqar Younis stepped down from their respective positions, the national selection committee was disbanded and Safraz Ahmed was appointed as the new T20 captain in the recent developments following Pakistan's sorry World Twenty20 captain.

Khan, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup triumph in 1992, termed the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) recent steps as mere eyewash and urged the game's chiefs to address the issue at the grassroots level.

Reacting to the changes, Khan said the real problems were being ignored.

“Changing of coaches won't do any good for the improvement of the game. There is a dire need to improve the whole structure of the game from the grass-root level,” Khan said while addressing reporters after a talent hunt camp in Islamabad.

“If the internal cricket structure is not worked on, we’ll keep seeing captains, coaches and selectors being sacked and Pakistan cricket will only suffer,” he added.

The cricketer-turned politician cited the example of India and warned about the increasing gap between the success-rate of the neighbouring countries.

“India is progressing fast at the international level because they’ve worked on their domestic cricket and if things don’t improve in Pakistan, there will be a big gap between the two countries’ cricket.”

The 63-year-old said Pakistan had immense talent but termed the lack of grounds and training facilities throughout the country a major hurdle in nurturing the potential.

“New Zealand has a population of about 3 to 4 million, and they have more cricket grounds than there are in Pakistan,” he said.

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