http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128
It seems that the thrashing received by Pakistan in the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham has not gone down well with members of the parliament and former cricketers alike, as a day after the scathing letter sent by a parliamentarian to the President of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, the hero of the 1971 Birmingham Test, Zaheer Abbas, jumped on the criticism bandwagon, as he has blamed the current administration of the Pakistan Cricket Board for the debacle and the continuously dipping standards of the game in the country.
The man, regarded as one of the finest batsman to have emerged from the subcontinent, was given the tag of the Asian Bradman (referring to Australian legend Sir Donald Bradman).
He is the first and the only Pakistani to score hundred first class centuries, and unfortunately batting has been the real worry for the current national team. Zaheer feels it is the lack of consistency in planning by the PCB that has hurt the game badly, with the standards nose-diving with every game.
"Winning and losing are part of the game but I fear for Pakistan cricket because the manner in which matters like transformation of the team have been handled shows we are heading towards disaster," Abbas told media in Pakistan, adding that thoughtless decisions have been a trait of the current cricket administration in the country.
"Decisions are taken in a haphazard manner and the state of Pakistan cricket is deplorable. The main culprit is the administration."
Most of the former cricketers in the cricket-mad nation have made similar observations, including the ones who were associated with the Board in recent months, like former Test opener Aamir Sohail and champion leg-spinner Abdul Qadir.
However, Zaheer has remained noncommittal regarding the issue, until his outburst yesterday as he joins the chorus wanting to get rid of the Chairman Ijaz Butt.
Zaheer thinks that the Board has committed a big blunder by sending seasoned batsman and former captain Mohammad Yousuf to England, and on the other hand ignoring another former captain Younis Khan, who is playing county cricket for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Surrey-c851 in the ongoing English championship.
"Yousuf announced his retirement and suddenly he was sent to England. How come Yousuf is in the team now and Younis Khan not selected, this is a different set of rules for two players," he said.
The two ‘Y’s were the cornerstone of Pakistan batting in recent years, but were dumped unceremoniously and handed indefinite bans by the PCB for disciplinary reasons following the disastrous tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, where the team was humiliated in both the One-Day and Test match series.
As a result of the suspension, Yousuf decided to retire while Younis fought against the ban, eventually having it overturned.
On the treatment meted out to Younis, Zaheer opined that the PCB fuelled the fire when the batsman was leading the team last year and were the ones to be blamed for creating disunity and disharmony in the players, which led to the formation of an anti-Younis group in the national team
"Where were the team management and the administration when seven, eight players took oath on the holy book (the Koran) and revolted against captaincy of Younis," Abbas said.
The prolific batsman, who had a penchant of scoring runs in the subcontinent, concluded that the right-hander deserved to be a part of the ongoing series as he is easily the best Pakistan batsman currently.
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