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[EXCLUSIVE] "New generation of Pakistanis don't want to go to cricket grounds": Shahid Hashmi

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Shahid Hashmi, a prominent Pakistani journalist and seasoned cricket analyst, joined Saj for an exclusive interview with PakPassion and shared his candid insights into the pressing issues plaguing Pakistan cricket.

With decades of experience covering sports globally, Hashmi dissected the systemic failures, leadership chaos, and fading fan enthusiasm impacting the team’s performance.

Key topics include:

Constant PCB leadership changes and their disastrous consequences
: Spoke about how frequent changes in the chairmanship of the Pakistan Cricket Board have led to significant instability and poor performance in the cricketing structure.

PSL 2025’s lack of innovations and plummeting fan engagement: Spoke about how the PSL has failed to create hype or introduce innovations, resulting in decreased fan engagement compared to leagues like the IPL.

Why Pakistan’s domestic structure lags behind global standards: Highlighted the flaws in Pakistan's domestic cricket, contributing to a significant gap between domestic and international cricket standards.

Multan Sultans’ shocking collapse: Pointed out Multan Sultans' struggles, attributing their poor performances to ineffective team combinations, which have hindered their success in the league.

Mike Hesson’s potential coaching role and lessons from past foreign coaches: The possibility of Mike Hesson becoming Pakistan’s head coach was explored, with insights into how previous foreign coaches have influenced the team’s approach and development.

The fading India-Pakistan rivalry and its implications for cricket: Expressed concerns over the diminishing India-Pakistan cricket rivalry, noting that fewer future matches could hurt fan interest and the sport’s commercial appeal worldwide.

Generation losing interest in cricket and Pakistan’s future: Highlighted a growing concern that a new generation is losing interest in cricket, which in itself poses a serious challenge for the future of the sport in Pakistan.

Watch the full interview here:
 
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To be honest, the young generation might not want to go to the stadium to watch the games because this team has been underperforming like a minnow for a long time now, but these young boys do go to the ground to play cricket themselves. They want to play cricket, but it is just that watching the Pakistan team fail is hard for them.
 
To be honest, the young generation might not want to go to the stadium to watch the games because this team has been underperforming like a minnow for a long time now, but these young boys do go to the ground to play cricket themselves. They want to play cricket, but it is just that watching the Pakistan team fail is hard for them.
No, they are just not interested in cricket at all , they invest their time on mobile phones and tik tok instead and that’s true even for rural population.
 
No, they are just not interested in cricket at all , they invest their time on mobile phones and tik tok instead and that’s true even for rural population.
Yes, the interest has indeed decreased, but saying it is 100% is not true... Young boys still want to see good cricket and they do like to play cricket, but obviously, not as hard as the boys from the 90s. That passion is lost.
 
There was a cut throat competition even in getting selected for your neighborhood team.

When I used to play cricket as a kid in 2000s there was mad passion and every neighborhood got senior and junior teams with junior players doing everything they can in inter team local street matches in order to be impressed by senior team mates.

I remember getting selected as a 14 year old pacer in a senior team consisting of mid 20s and even mid 30s guy and was literally shivering when I came to bat and couldn’t control my line and bowled 6 wides on the trot, got dropped for 6 years after that match and later on started as a premier pacer for our neighborhood team against other teams.

Now nobody even plays cricket in our entire town compare to 12 senior and junior teams daily playing cricket.
 
I remember daily playing cricket and trying new things like new grip new bowling action and waiting impatiently for Sunday 4 team tournament, those were the golden days of our street cricket.
 
From the age of 10 to 18, I played cricket literally everyday. I used to live right next to the ground and when we were not playing in the ground, i and my 2 brothers would play at home and break windows every now and then and then get slaps from our father. Such was the craze but it’s no where near the same in today’s generation and i’m only 31 so things have changed quite rapidly.
 
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