We are now back at the stage where we are looking to find scapegoats. Threads are flying around asking if Mickey is the problem, if Sarfraz is the problem, if Inzamam is the main culprit, if it is all Misbah's fault, if the kit-man is the reason for our decline etc. etc., and then after all the wailing, we decide to look forward to a rebuilding phase (as if we haven't been there before), and argue that if X replaces Y, the team will get better, and how it is time to bring in fresh faces.
It is time for us to realize that these 'fresh faces' are TTFs of the future. These Fakhars, Fahims, Talats, Sahibzadas, Ghulam Mudassars, Usama Mirs etc. etc. are not from Mars; these are products of the same rotten system that has produced the TTFs of today. 5 years down the line, people will be calling for their heads while bigging up the next generation of TTFs.
Pakistan cricket is simply not in a position to produce world class cricketers than can compete with the best the rest of the world has to offer, and it is not their fault. They are simply products of a system that cannot cope with the best.
We have talked about a revamp of domestic cricket for years and we will continue to talk about it and repeat ourselves for the next 10 years as well, but simply nothing is going to happen. The only way forward for Pakistan cricket is to privatize PCB and de-politicize it. Hand it over to private investors who don't have favors to repay and scores to settle. And no, the delusions that Imran Khan will become PM and fix the PCB are laughable. When he becomes PM, he will hand the PCB over to one of his 'friends', who could be one of the lotas from PPP with skeletons in the cupboard.
PSL is an example in front of us: The private owners are only concerned with the success of their franchises, so you don't so people like Hafeez captaining a franchise and Pakistan's ODI captain of the time (Azhar) was sacked after only one season by the Qalandars, because they knew that he was not cut for the job. Handing Pakistan cricket to private people is the only way forward for this team, because a public institution is nothing but a reflection of the state.
Nonetheless, I am simply wasting my time and energy on this because we all know nothing will going to happen. Come 2019, we will be asking the same questions and creating the same threads. I often see people who say that they were cricket fanatics but gave up when they realized that this team is not worth the emotional investment, and is a simply a waste of time. I can see where they are coming from, and the only solution for the fans now is to simply give up on this team or continue to get tortured for the rest of your lives.
The heydays of Pakistan cricket are not coming back. It is heading down the path of hockey and squash, and we are simply not capable of an resurgence. Just accept this fact and try to move on with your lives and focus on things that matter. I have wasted enough years on cricket and wasted enough time talking about cricket over the Internet. This could have been utilized in a much more productive and efficient way, something that would have served me in life.
Just give up on Pakistan cricket and cricket in general, it is best for you.
