Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
"Today, India is in far greater turmoil from a security perspective than Pakistan" : Ehsan Mani
Ehsan Mani at a presser today:
The biggest thing for us was to bring cricket back home. We had PSL, B teams, Women's teams but SL coming here and playing Tests was the real achievement, a landmark event. Now the whole world knows cricket has come back to Pakistan and Pakistan is completely safe.
There were no accidents or incidents, if you talk to the SL players, they are happy with the preparations. In fact, they want more freedom of movement which will come with time as people's confidence levels build.
These two Test matches are the turning point for Pakistan cricket.
We told ICC and other boards not to believe our words but to come and see. We had the CA CEO Kevin Roberts, Tom Harrison of the ECB with a board member who is a former policeman. The board member when departing said 'I wish we had security arrangements in England like you have here in Pakistan'. So they hadn't seen such state of the art things as they saw here and in Lahore.
The biggest litmus test was the PSL draft, when we asked about interest of players. 425 foreign players said they want to take part in PSL. So cricketers think Pakistan is safe.
We have been talking to the BCB since quite a while. There should be no confusion about where matches will be held - matches against Bangladesh or against any other country will be in Pakistan, there should be no doubt about it. I am still hopeful that BCB think deeply about this and accept that there is no reason for them not to come.
Bringing Sri Lanka was high risk for us because if anything happened at all, it would have been a blow but they showed that they have confidence in us and trusted us. So they came and they are going back happily, their only wish is that they had come for T20Is and ODIs also because what they were told is very different to the ground realities.
Bangladesh's security teams came here and gave positive feedback. When leaving, they said it's all clear from their side so I hope there are no political problems in this. I am hopeful they will tour.
There is no interference from me or from anyone else in PCB regarding selection. And Misbah doesn't do all the selection on his own, he has 6 selectors with him who are coaches and former players and their integrity can't be questioned. Nadeem Khan is there as the coordinator. These are credible people. In their judgement, Sarfaraz was struggling. I spoke to Sarfaraz and there are no personal issues, he's a gutsy player and I hope he sorts himself out in domestic cricket. His full commitment is for Pakistan cricket and he can make a comeback with performances.
If anyone has concern about my age, I suggest you spend a week with me in Lahore and see my work ethic. I work from 9am to 8-9pm and I work on weekends too. All my life, I have worked hard and I have no fear of hard work. If you want, you can come mountain climbing with me, I go trekking also and I work on the environment too. Age is not a factor.
I've been with ICC for a long time and I know the way it works. Any team that doesn't tour Pakistan has to prove to the ICC that it isn't safe to tour. We know it's safe and we've shown that to the world. There were incidents in Christchurch, there are incidents in Australia, England. I lived in England for 50+ years and the muggings, robberies etc. there happen all over the world. I can tell you today that probably India is in far greater turmoil from a security perspective than Pakistan is. So if anyone doesn't want to come, we will listen to them. I will not risk any player's safety or security but they need to prove why they think they aren't safe.
A big challenge for us now is our pitches. Until we don't play on pitches that can help our players to develop so that they can play overseas, our struggles will continue. The real test of a good team is to win matches overseas.
India has a new board in place and we haven't spoken to them so I can't speak about them right now.
Bangladesh's women and U16 teams came to Pakistan and left happy. If we will play them, we will play in Pakistan.
(Can this BD dispute go to the ICC) Yes, that can happen. I won't comment on that right now as we are in talks. Most of what about them from what I've seen is in the newspapers, less directly from their board. When they formally tell us about their position, we will see.
Sarfaraz was captain of Pakistan, not Karachi. I was the first Chairman who called him to my office in Lahore. He said he had never come in this office before.
Mudassar Nazar's contract finished in May but he agreed to stay for another year. He is an internationally respected coach. When I started the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai and made Rod Marsh the Chief Coach, I asked him to find me the best batting coach in the world who can deal with Asian minds. Without thinking, he took Mudassar's name, that's how respected he is. Mudassar told me that he wants to do one year more only, his contract will finish in May. Whoever it is, a time comes for people to move on. It's never permanent. Mudassar has done a lot for Pakistan cricket and player development.
We have a lot more to do with domestic cricket. We need to recognise players who are performing well in domestic cricket. We brought in Shinwari and Fawad Alam because of their performances. Similarly, I hope Sarfaraz will perform and come back into contention. There should be no misunderstanding, that we think about Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar etc., we think about Pakistan.
Pakistan's future is the U19s and we have to professionalise them and make them excellent. Cricket is not a social game, cricketers need to be athletes. Fitness is important, food is important. This is the culture we need to bring into Pakistan cricket.
Ehsan Mani at a presser today:
The biggest thing for us was to bring cricket back home. We had PSL, B teams, Women's teams but SL coming here and playing Tests was the real achievement, a landmark event. Now the whole world knows cricket has come back to Pakistan and Pakistan is completely safe.
There were no accidents or incidents, if you talk to the SL players, they are happy with the preparations. In fact, they want more freedom of movement which will come with time as people's confidence levels build.
These two Test matches are the turning point for Pakistan cricket.
We told ICC and other boards not to believe our words but to come and see. We had the CA CEO Kevin Roberts, Tom Harrison of the ECB with a board member who is a former policeman. The board member when departing said 'I wish we had security arrangements in England like you have here in Pakistan'. So they hadn't seen such state of the art things as they saw here and in Lahore.
The biggest litmus test was the PSL draft, when we asked about interest of players. 425 foreign players said they want to take part in PSL. So cricketers think Pakistan is safe.
We have been talking to the BCB since quite a while. There should be no confusion about where matches will be held - matches against Bangladesh or against any other country will be in Pakistan, there should be no doubt about it. I am still hopeful that BCB think deeply about this and accept that there is no reason for them not to come.
Bringing Sri Lanka was high risk for us because if anything happened at all, it would have been a blow but they showed that they have confidence in us and trusted us. So they came and they are going back happily, their only wish is that they had come for T20Is and ODIs also because what they were told is very different to the ground realities.
Bangladesh's security teams came here and gave positive feedback. When leaving, they said it's all clear from their side so I hope there are no political problems in this. I am hopeful they will tour.
There is no interference from me or from anyone else in PCB regarding selection. And Misbah doesn't do all the selection on his own, he has 6 selectors with him who are coaches and former players and their integrity can't be questioned. Nadeem Khan is there as the coordinator. These are credible people. In their judgement, Sarfaraz was struggling. I spoke to Sarfaraz and there are no personal issues, he's a gutsy player and I hope he sorts himself out in domestic cricket. His full commitment is for Pakistan cricket and he can make a comeback with performances.
If anyone has concern about my age, I suggest you spend a week with me in Lahore and see my work ethic. I work from 9am to 8-9pm and I work on weekends too. All my life, I have worked hard and I have no fear of hard work. If you want, you can come mountain climbing with me, I go trekking also and I work on the environment too. Age is not a factor.
I've been with ICC for a long time and I know the way it works. Any team that doesn't tour Pakistan has to prove to the ICC that it isn't safe to tour. We know it's safe and we've shown that to the world. There were incidents in Christchurch, there are incidents in Australia, England. I lived in England for 50+ years and the muggings, robberies etc. there happen all over the world. I can tell you today that probably India is in far greater turmoil from a security perspective than Pakistan is. So if anyone doesn't want to come, we will listen to them. I will not risk any player's safety or security but they need to prove why they think they aren't safe.
A big challenge for us now is our pitches. Until we don't play on pitches that can help our players to develop so that they can play overseas, our struggles will continue. The real test of a good team is to win matches overseas.
India has a new board in place and we haven't spoken to them so I can't speak about them right now.
Bangladesh's women and U16 teams came to Pakistan and left happy. If we will play them, we will play in Pakistan.
(Can this BD dispute go to the ICC) Yes, that can happen. I won't comment on that right now as we are in talks. Most of what about them from what I've seen is in the newspapers, less directly from their board. When they formally tell us about their position, we will see.
Sarfaraz was captain of Pakistan, not Karachi. I was the first Chairman who called him to my office in Lahore. He said he had never come in this office before.
Mudassar Nazar's contract finished in May but he agreed to stay for another year. He is an internationally respected coach. When I started the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai and made Rod Marsh the Chief Coach, I asked him to find me the best batting coach in the world who can deal with Asian minds. Without thinking, he took Mudassar's name, that's how respected he is. Mudassar told me that he wants to do one year more only, his contract will finish in May. Whoever it is, a time comes for people to move on. It's never permanent. Mudassar has done a lot for Pakistan cricket and player development.
We have a lot more to do with domestic cricket. We need to recognise players who are performing well in domestic cricket. We brought in Shinwari and Fawad Alam because of their performances. Similarly, I hope Sarfaraz will perform and come back into contention. There should be no misunderstanding, that we think about Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar etc., we think about Pakistan.
Pakistan's future is the U19s and we have to professionalise them and make them excellent. Cricket is not a social game, cricketers need to be athletes. Fitness is important, food is important. This is the culture we need to bring into Pakistan cricket.
Do you even know what the word fact implies?
