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What impact did regime change bring to Pakistan Cricket?

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Let's address the elephant in the room here, I'm talking about the political regime change in Pakistan in April 2022. We are almost at the 4 year mark post the regime change and I wanted to simply highlight what this has bought to Pakistan. This is a cricket forum so this discussion is strictly related to cricket. We can pick any topic such as economy, environment, geopolitics, unemployment, etc and can have a different discussion using the same topic as to what regime change bought to Pakistan. However, we are strictly going to stick with cricket in this thread.

Let's first talk about Pakistan cricket prior to regime change. Pre-2022 Pakistan cricket.

1. Tournaments - Summary of recent tournaments pre-2022 era
TournamentFinishComments
2022 T20 WCFinalistLucky to reach the finals with plenty of injured players (Shaheen, Fakhar). Played bad cricket in the final but still fought with a modest total on board.
2021 T20 WCSemi-FinalBest change Pakistan team had to win a tournament. Defeated India for first time, strong team morale and overall performances. Choked in the final leg of the semi-final match with dropped catch and below par energy.
2019 ODI WCGroup stage eliminationI'd say slightly unlucky to miss out on semi-final spot largely due to big loss to WI in first game. Still a tournament to forget with nothing home to write about.
2017 CTWinnerWinners. Defeated India in final. Best moment in Pak cricket in the past decade.
2016 T20 WC2nd group stage eliminationTournament to forget. Couldn't pose a challenge to Australia, India and NZ in the group only defeated Bangladesh.

2. Rise of PSL and moving PSL back to Pakistan. PSL is Pakistan's flagship tournament and I'd like to say that moving PSL to Pakistan in the first couple of years were the best highs achieved by PSL till now.

3. Revamp of domestic cricket. This was such a bold step and absolutely necessary step for sake of Pakistan cricket. There were a lot of factions who did not like this step as QEA and other domestic tournaments previously housed a large number of cricketers and funded their families. However if Pakistan cricket need to progress further then such difficult steps need to be taken. Let's look at this from a different perspective. Pakistan is arguable a mid-tier team who would struggle against the top 5 or even top 6 teams in international circuit. Now to improve the quality of competition in the XI its important to have a tournament with only cream from domestic i.e. 6 teams. From this 6 teams we can ensure competition is steady and anyone who performs well in this circuit definitely deserves to be part of national XI. In my opinion this was a great initiative and very bold. Sad to see all of it go down in drain. Back in the day domestic performances were being kept an eye on and being discussed. Now no one even knows what's happening in domestic circuit.

4. Pakistan Junior League. I don't know who's idea it was, but whoever it was this idea was ahead of its time. PJL would have had an epic impact on Pakistan's cricket in as little as 4-5 year's time. This was such a brilliant idea that would have encouraged the youth to stick with cricket and become more competitive and international ready in very little time. I understand financially it wouldn't have been very viable but got to admit this was well ahead of its time.

5. Team morale and spirit. Whilst I don't agree with the notion that Babar was given a freehand and a lot of say in Pakistan cricket, I totally agree with the idea. Prosperity in Pakistan cricket is only secured when the captain at the helm is comfortable in his role, confident, ensures the discipline in the team, etc. Whilst Babar was not the right choice in the long-run we can still see till the time captain was at the helm of cricketing affairs the team morale was very good and there were no infightings and little controversies.

6. Digital marketing and social media. One thing that was going good pre-2022 is that Pakistan cricket was tapping into the ultra big market of social media in the best possible way. The Pakistan cricket channel was managed so much better. Domestic cricket being streamed on youtube. Player profiles improving via social media. There are tons of great opportunity on social media and it was handled at that time very well that helps in building the star status for players a its important in a country like Pakistan that stars exist so youngsters can have someone to look up to.

Let's move onto post-2022 era now.

1. Tournaments post-2022
TournamentFinishComments
2023 ODI WCGroup stage eliminationPakistan finished 5th on the table missing out on semi-final. However it was a tournament to forget for Pakistan with exception of win against SL. Yes Pakistan defeated NZ on D/L basis but we all know had the full game played out NZ were winning that one. Regardless sad tournament for Pakistan.
2024 T20 WCGroup stage eliminationPakistan were defeated by USA leading to their exit from this tournament at very early stage. Disappointment.
2025 CTGroup stage eliminationThe most embarrassing moment for Pakistan cricket in the past decade. The only tournament Pakistan hosted in 25 years where Pakistan's name was removed from broadcast, no representation from Pakistan in closing ceremony, main events like semi-final and final hosted out of Pakistan. Iconic Gaddafi stadium half-complete with no roof. Pakistan eliminated in 1st round with no wins and India winning the tournament. Embarrassment all round.
2026 T20 WC2nd group stage eliminationDisappointing WC for Pakistan. Arguably the easiest 1st group followed by a NZ washout in 2nd group. Barely defeated SL. Nothing noteworthy to write about this tournament.

2. Political shenanigans. In the recent couple of years the political shenanigans have been the top most priority of PCB it seems. From agreeing to give away our flagship CT tournament to be hosted in Dubai, to making noise of boycott from T20 WC, to then backtracking on the claims and the the most embarrassing to runaway with Asia Cup trophy. From a neutral point of view this has become a joke now. Whilst India is to be blamed here equally our chest-thumping and shenanigans need to stop for sake of our cricket.

3. Politics everywhere. Right from the get go when the original domestic structure was bought back we could see leeches springing back into PCB to suck the life out of it again. Politics in PCB office for main roles, politics in team with infighting and backstabbing, politics in media to burn a player or hype another, political appointment right at the top. Our cricket is being destroyed in real time and we all can see it happening yet can't do much.

4. Domestic cricket destroyed, including downfall of PSL. Our domestic structure is completely destroyed. No one follows a 21 team QEA tournament or corporate brand running teams with full of parchi players. Even PSL is facing the brunt of this as previous couple of tournaments amazingly had a fall in overall viewership. Now by adding 2 further teams I don't think the viewership would improve any further.

5. Pakistan future tours program. There isn't much noise over this but something is brewing in the background. The FTP for 2027 onwards isn't released yet and what I fear is that Pakistan's tour of SENA nations would be significantly reduced. It has already been capped at 2 tests or so with England being exception with 3 tests but going forward the frequency of these tours are going to be reduced significantly. It doesn't help that Pakistan cricket has become so poor people aren't interested in watching Pakistan team play. Pakistan is going down Bangladesh route where getting a SENA tour would be like 1 in 4 years.

Overall, I just wanted to get a thread together to show the effects of a forced regime change in a country. I have only spoken about cricket in here which is the last thing that can be impacted by a regime change. The effects on something like economy including inflation and unemployment is massive, environment, brain fade, etc.

I would have missed so many points but wanted to keep it brief. Happy for posters to add any points I would have missed.
 
Under Imran Khan, Pakistan’s domestic cricket structure was reduced to a smaller number of teams competing in the various domestic tournaments across formats. The aim was to concentrate the country’s best players into fewer squads, which helped create higher-quality matches and stronger competition. With limited places available, only the top-performing players were selected, increasing the overall standard of domestic cricket. The Regional structure of the tournaments created some of the best domestic tournaments in decades.


Later, under Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board expanded the number of domestic teams. While this allowed more players to participate, it also spread the talent pool across too many sides. As a result, players of lower quality were included in first-class teams, which reduced the overall standard of domestic matches.


This dilution of talent meant that some players were effectively batting against weaker bowling attacks or bowling to weaker batters, leading to inflated averages that did not accurately reflect their ability. Pitch conditions also became flatter and flatter further increasing scoring and exaggerating statistical performances. Essentially, some players who appeared successful in domestic cricket were exposed when competing at the international level against stronger opposition because when you go from facing mediocre level talent to suddenly facing players that have gone through to the national team on their own merit in their own domestic circuits you will be massively exposed. The depth in quality in that instance is enormous.

It is no coincidence that the quality of cricket the national team produced was much higher before 2022.
The current government took charge, put an incompetent man with zero cricketing knowledge in charge and he has proceeded to destroy the entire fabric of the cricket in the country with all the changes that he tried to implement.

Like I said it is easy to blame players but the person who deserves the most fault for this current shambles the National team finds itself in is Mohsin Naqvi
 
Ahmed216 said:
Maybe normalcy returns once mohsin Naqvi and Aqib Javed are gone. That's really my only hope at the moment
Click to expand...
If normalcy means being a top 4 team in the world and consistently playing good cricket then that can only be achieved with the right structure in place. We need to have self-functioning system in place that ensures the quality of players keeps improving. It took years to setup the previous domestic structure and in a jiffy it got destroyed and replaced with the old one. The change is not going to be overnight with change in personnel, it will again take a long time to come into effect.
 
Extra_Cover said:
If normalcy means being a top 4 team in the world and consistently playing good cricket then that can only be achieved with the right structure in place. We need to have self-functioning system in place that ensures the quality of players keeps improving. It took years to setup the previous domestic structure and in a jiffy it got destroyed and replaced with the old one. The change is not going to be overnight with change in personnel, it will again take a long time to come into effect.
Click to expand...
Correct

In completely non political context, Imran Khan is one of the best cricketers, talent spotters and captains in the history of Pakistan cricket. It takes a mind like that to transform cricket in your country from mediocre to high quality. All it took was a politician with no direction to completely derail what was implemented.
 
Alhamdolillah. Never again the following guys who destroyed Pakistan cricket:

1. Imran Khan
2. Wasim Khan
3. Ramiz Raja
4. Misbah ul Haq
5. Saqlain Mushtaq
6. Muhammad Waseem
7. Mohammad Rizwan
 
Rana said:
Great answer mate

These clowns recon everything revolves around their pathetic brand of cricket.

Pakistan is suffering because the previous ‘regime’ empowered donkeys as if they are stallions
Click to expand...


This thread is not even about Babar or Rizwan but here you are again

Genuinely think you need to get some therapy, the obsession is concerning
 
Naqvi' s vision : Making that pathetic rellu katta the T20 Captain who has no performance

Naqvis Vision: Making SSA the Captain when clearly lacks fitness for ODIs

============
Until this 👞 polisher is in charge, Pakistan cricket will continue to suffer
 
Kianig89 said:
Wow Imran Khan destroyed Pakistan cricket sums up your cricket acumen
Click to expand...
I read it and ignored it, anyone that says one of the greatest cricketers we have ever produced destroyed cricket in the country has zero cricket IQ.

People like that use emotional based narratives as opposed to practical. Assuming he is a Noon League supporter so needs to hate one of the greatest cricketers ever to point score just because he was a political rival to the party he supports
 
Naqvi bought Kirsten , then Aaqib schemed things and Kirsten left

Then Gillespie came in , he was kept in dark , henceforth he walked away.

Now Mike Hesson who either has lost the plot or is once again pegged by Aaqib.

Enough of this nonsense
 
Regime change for PCB was a bad idea. The things that we have lost are

1. A good domestic structure - our domestic cricket was finally taking some shape. You cannot have a 20+ team domestic tournament in Pakistan, the quantity & quality to have a strong competition at that level just do not exist. England works because the counties are their own entities and have a long standing history. The Lions program also is a totally separate program that filters all the really talented players in the counties and gives them opportunities outside county cricket for skill improvement.

2. PJL - Yes it was expensive and yes it was a financial disaster but it was a great experiment & it should have continued. Shamyl, Ali Raza, & Sameer to name a few are all PJL products (Sameer was 1 of the 100 talented cricketers who got PCB scholarship). Taking care of the 100 best young players so they can navigate their future career was a brilliant idea. So many of those players are now totally lost and we will never even see them in domestic cricket.

3. Imran Khan should have changed the constitution of cricket board but even when he didn't, he let a cricketer run the board. That adds a degree of respect instead of some nepo-unc who is living in fantasy land.

4. Things like the OTT platform for PCB, the hotel for players in Lahore so they don't have to travel, & reaching out to overseas Pakistanis were great initiatives. The PCBs hurried renovation of GSL was good but they didn't complete the hotel for the players which was almost as necessary as the stadium itself. All of this is just due to the regime change.

5. There's definitely a segment of youth that has stopped caring for cricket post regime change. This is not a hard fact but now Pak cricket team is seen as an extension of the government. A lot of people who used to support the team without any bias do not feel the same. They don't even need to change the government, just get political appointees out of the system and let some non-political person run it to get the trust back of the fanbase. Outside a few influencers, no one even gets angry when the team loses because people are not used to winning anymore. These are signs of a dying system.
 
Pakistan did well in 2025. Went to Asia Cup final. Won multiple series (including 2 tri-series). Won the U-19 Asia Cup and U-19 Emerging Asia Cup.

2023-2024 was poor, however.

Let's see how 2026 goes.
 
GoUgandaCranes said:
Regime change for PCB was a bad idea. The things that we have lost are

1. A good domestic structure - our domestic cricket was finally taking some shape. You cannot have a 20+ team domestic tournament in Pakistan, the quantity & quality to have a strong competition at that level just do not exist. England works because the counties are their own entities and have a long standing history. The Lions program also is a totally separate program that filters all the really talented players in the counties and gives them opportunities outside county cricket for skill improvement.

2. PJL - Yes it was expensive and yes it was a financial disaster but it was a great experiment & it should have continued. Shamyl, Ali Raza, & Sameer to name a few are all PJL products (Sameer was 1 of the 100 talented cricketers who got PCB scholarship). Taking care of the 100 best young players so they can navigate their future career was a brilliant idea. So many of those players are now totally lost and we will never even see them in domestic cricket.

3. Imran Khan should have changed the constitution of cricket board but even when he didn't, he let a cricketer run the board. That adds a degree of respect instead of some nepo-unc who is living in fantasy land.

4. Things like the OTT platform for PCB, the hotel for players in Lahore so they don't have to travel, & reaching out to overseas Pakistanis were great initiatives. The PCBs hurried renovation of GSL was good but they didn't complete the hotel for the players which was almost as necessary as the stadium itself. All of this is just due to the regime change.

5. There's definitely a segment of youth that has stopped caring for cricket post regime change. This is not a hard fact but now Pak cricket team is seen as an extension of the government. A lot of people who used to support the team without any bias do not feel the same. They don't even need to change the government, just get political appointees out of the system and let some non-political person run it to get the trust back of the fanbase. Outside a few influencers, no one even gets angry when the team loses because people are not used to winning anymore. These are signs of a dying system.
Click to expand...
Do youngsters really need a junior league? Youngsters need more FC exposure, focus on long batting, fitness and other stuff
 
sweep_shot said:
Pakistan did well in 2025. Went to Asia Cup final. Won multiple series (including 2 tri-series). Won the U-19 Asia Cup and U-19 Emerging Asia Cup.

2023-2024 was poor, however.

Let's see how 2026 goes.
Click to expand...
They were all meaningless series.

The only gauge to judge Pakistan' 2025 is CT failure & 3-0 from India
 
PCB administrations always fluctuate with changes in government. However the players are the ones who always stay. Pakistan's core group of players have been a constant for the last 7-10 years i.e. Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Shadab, Rauf, Naseem, Fakhar, Nawaz, Faheem e.t.c. They have received way more than enough chances than countries like India, Australia, England, South Africa would have allowed them. Their ultimate currency is performance. They have to perform and deliver regardless of what goes on in the PCB.
 
GoUgandaCranes said:
Regime change for PCB was a bad idea. The things that we have lost are

1. A good domestic structure - our domestic cricket was finally taking some shape. You cannot have a 20+ team domestic tournament in Pakistan, the quantity & quality to have a strong competition at that level just do not exist. England works because the counties are their own entities and have a long standing history. The Lions program also is a totally separate program that filters all the really talented players in the counties and gives them opportunities outside county cricket for skill improvement.

2. PJL - Yes it was expensive and yes it was a financial disaster but it was a great experiment & it should have continued. Shamyl, Ali Raza, & Sameer to name a few are all PJL products (Sameer was 1 of the 100 talented cricketers who got PCB scholarship). Taking care of the 100 best young players so they can navigate their future career was a brilliant idea. So many of those players are now totally lost and we will never even see them in domestic cricket.

3. Imran Khan should have changed the constitution of cricket board but even when he didn't, he let a cricketer run the board. That adds a degree of respect instead of some nepo-unc who is living in fantasy land.

4. Things like the OTT platform for PCB, the hotel for players in Lahore so they don't have to travel, & reaching out to overseas Pakistanis were great initiatives. The PCBs hurried renovation of GSL was good but they didn't complete the hotel for the players which was almost as necessary as the stadium itself. All of this is just due to the regime change.

5. There's definitely a segment of youth that has stopped caring for cricket post regime change. This is not a hard fact but now Pak cricket team is seen as an extension of the government. A lot of people who used to support the team without any bias do not feel the same. They don't even need to change the government, just get political appointees out of the system and let some non-political person run it to get the trust back of the fanbase. Outside a few influencers, no one even gets angry when the team loses because people are not used to winning anymore. These are signs of a dying system.
Click to expand...
The 5th point highlighted above is of utmost importance. Every great sporting nation needs rolemodels / heroes / stars that they can dream to be one day. This is the case in every youngster. There is a reason why Pakistan was called a factory that produces non-stop fast bowlers because guys adored Imran Khan in 80s and Wasim / Waqar in 90s. This led to guys like Akhtar, Asif, Gul, Aamir, Sami, Irfan come through the ranks. Look at our case now our fast bowling stock is bare and even in u19s we don't see any major talent propping through.

The youth need heroes to up their game. In 2022 the hero status was being enjoyed by Babar especially, yes he had a major downfall since then but PCB should have somehow preserved Babar's status. Potentially taking away captaincy in 2022 after England T20 loss or having some consultations setup so he bats lower in the order or retire early from T20s. Its important to have hero status for the youth of the country to look up to.

There are definite signs that the interest in cricket is dying down in the country. Like every other industry the youth is convinced that to break into national side you need to have some sort of backing or know someone who can push open the door for you unless you are a generational talent. When merit dies in an organisation then competition dies too and results are below par.
 
Kianig89 said:
, if you think Imran Khan destroyed Pakistan cricket , I will never reply to you,
Click to expand...
Oh no, what am I to do if you don’t ever reply to me???

Nooooooo!!!!!






Oh well. I’ll say it again.

IMRAN KHAN IS EQUALLY COMPLICIT IN DESTROYING PAKISTAN CRICKET

There, what now?
 
From Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan, we have slid to Naqvi and his bureacrats from the Punjab government in the PCB. Salman Naseer is officially the PSL CEO but he is not able to focus all his attention to PSL matters because the PCB CEO Summair is not well versed in PCB, ICC matters, laws/regulations which is why Salman Naseer is always pulled in to help everyone else and represent PCB in ICC meetings.

On top of that you have Aqib Javed who has been given a free hand to dictate things behind the scenes.
 
Josh said:
Do youngsters really need a junior league? Youngsters need more FC exposure, focus on long batting, fitness and other stuff
Click to expand...

Yes. The youngsters need PJL. More importantly youngsters need an incentive to play cricket and FC can never be for everyone or enough of a venture to provide employment opportunities & that too for 17 year old kids.

We need to understand that Pakistan does not have pathway cricket. Most of the people who are playing cricket come from families who do not have the means or resources & their path is purely based on chance/luck. Let's take the case of Babar - he became what he is because his dad was supportive and also had the opportunity to take him to practice sessions on his bike. Sameer Minhas is another example, his dad was a former FC cricket so when his kids showed interest in cricket, he knew what to do. It was also great that Sameer was earmarked at an early age and started getting PCB scholarship.

PJLs fault was that it tried to mirror PSL and that model was flawed. If they tweaked it a bit & made a few compromises specially in terms of broadcast contract or used it as curtain raiser for PSL, it would have been a downright success. The 100 is still using women cricket as a curtain raiser & it gets the audience and the attention. It also frees PSL from having mandatory one U19 player which dilutes the quality of an already low quality competition.

The downright scrapping of the concept just because it wasn't your brainchild is just cruel as it showed that there were many players who had the potential but they are now nowhere in the domestic setup.
 
GoUgandaCranes said:
Yes. The youngsters need PJL. More importantly youngsters need an incentive to play cricket and FC can never be for everyone or enough of a venture to provide employment opportunities & that too for 17 year old kids.

We need to understand that Pakistan does not have pathway cricket. Most of the people who are playing cricket come from families who do not have the means or resources & their path is purely based on chance/luck. Let's take the case of Babar - he became what he is because his dad was supportive and also had the opportunity to take him to practice sessions on his bike. Sameer Minhas is another example, his dad was a former FC cricket so when his kids showed interest in cricket, he knew what to do. It was also great that Sameer was earmarked at an early age and started getting PCB scholarship.

PJLs fault was that it tried to mirror PSL and that model was flawed. If they tweaked it a bit & made a few compromises specially in terms of broadcast contract or used it as curtain raiser for PSL, it would have been a downright success. The 100 is still using women cricket as a curtain raiser & it gets the audience and the attention. It also frees PSL from having mandatory one U19 player which dilutes the quality of an already low quality competition.

The downright scrapping of the concept just because it wasn't your brainchild is just cruel as it showed that there were many players who had the potential but they are now nowhere in the domestic setup.
Click to expand...
It's a good to have item but not necessary

I believe grassroot academies, strong club cricket and strong first class system is much more important. My assessment from outside is Pakistan lacks big time in these and whatever structure is there, it isn't run very effectively either.
 
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