Corridor of Uncertainty
First Class Captain
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2009
- Runs
- 5,134
- Post of the Week
- 4
Cricket isn't a global sport yet - even if a few, highest populated countries in the world play it seriously.
The moment it becomes an olympic sport, it will become a global sport by design. Everyone will fight for that gold medal.
It will go the way of hockey. Who would have thought a few years ago that Belgium, New Zealand, Korea and Malaysia will be in top 10 of world rankings? While Pakistan will be languishing outside top 15 and won't even qualify for big events.
This is going to happen in cricket too - to countries who do not invest the right way in this sport - either because they are poor or they are poorly managed. Pakistan, BD, Zimbabwe, WI and some others are at great risk.
They play elite cricket by right, but that right may not remain a right in a few years time - when performance becomes the benchmark.
It is time Pakistan took some sharp bets to deploy precious resources:
1. Invest only behind test cricket and T20s - because these will be the surviving formats. Yes test cricket will be a surviving format too.
2. Post World Cup, use ODis only to experiment with players, techniques, approaches, pitches and the like. 3. 3. Grass roots school cricket is rapidly becoming a pipe dream primarily due to lack of urban green spaces. Not going to happen. Instead, put bets on building U15 and U17 ecosystem. International tours, coaching academies etc. Go crazy in taking raw talent with zero training and try to find some diamonds to polish.
4. Stop fighting the system. It is what it is. Too entrenched, quite corrupt but creates enough to keep Pakistan there and thereabouts. Instead, infiltrate the system with qualified people from good universities, colleges. Let them disrupt from ground up.
5. Find best practices globally and copy a workable system from other sport. Kenya in running will be a good example. Low budgets but elite sports people.
It is clear if Pakistan cricket has to belong at somewhere near high level, and compete with countries with infinitely higher resources, it has to begin with narrowing focus and sacrificing the whole to save some parts.
The moment it becomes an olympic sport, it will become a global sport by design. Everyone will fight for that gold medal.
It will go the way of hockey. Who would have thought a few years ago that Belgium, New Zealand, Korea and Malaysia will be in top 10 of world rankings? While Pakistan will be languishing outside top 15 and won't even qualify for big events.
This is going to happen in cricket too - to countries who do not invest the right way in this sport - either because they are poor or they are poorly managed. Pakistan, BD, Zimbabwe, WI and some others are at great risk.
They play elite cricket by right, but that right may not remain a right in a few years time - when performance becomes the benchmark.
It is time Pakistan took some sharp bets to deploy precious resources:
1. Invest only behind test cricket and T20s - because these will be the surviving formats. Yes test cricket will be a surviving format too.
2. Post World Cup, use ODis only to experiment with players, techniques, approaches, pitches and the like. 3. 3. Grass roots school cricket is rapidly becoming a pipe dream primarily due to lack of urban green spaces. Not going to happen. Instead, put bets on building U15 and U17 ecosystem. International tours, coaching academies etc. Go crazy in taking raw talent with zero training and try to find some diamonds to polish.
4. Stop fighting the system. It is what it is. Too entrenched, quite corrupt but creates enough to keep Pakistan there and thereabouts. Instead, infiltrate the system with qualified people from good universities, colleges. Let them disrupt from ground up.
5. Find best practices globally and copy a workable system from other sport. Kenya in running will be a good example. Low budgets but elite sports people.
It is clear if Pakistan cricket has to belong at somewhere near high level, and compete with countries with infinitely higher resources, it has to begin with narrowing focus and sacrificing the whole to save some parts.
