Will it be a new dawn for Pakistan cricket under its new chairman Zaka Ashraf who has taken over from Ejaz Butt? Butt's term was seen as the darkest in Pakistan cricket. A sensible administrator at the helm of Pakistan cricket can be hugely beneficial for world cricket, too, because Pakistan is a nation endowed with the best of cricketing talent. Only an administrator with cricket in his heart will be able to transform this team into world beaters again.

During the course of my conversation with Pakistan's greatest left-arm fast bowler Wasim Akram, who is in Dubai as the brand ambassador for the Gulf Sixes tournament, he mentioned that Pakistan are eminently capable of raising their game provided they are guided the right way. He pointed out that Pakistan's World Cup performance, despite going through a tough three-year period marked by controversies, speaks volumes of the players' determination.

I consider Akram a very sensible and intelligent cricketer — next only to Imran Khan — to have played for Pakistan; unfortunately Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) does not think so. The very fact that this legend who is an idol for millions of pacers around the world, is not even considered to groom their youngsters, reveals the board's shortsightedness.

Akram revealed that he has nothing much on his hands whenever he returns to Pakistan after his commitments as a commentator with ESPN, and would be more than happy if a bunch of promising pacers were sent to him for coaching. Interestingly, whenever Akram has offered advice to Indian pacers, Pakistan administrators have always protested.


One of the big drawbacks of Pakistan cricket is a lack of trust even in their great players. The only time Pakistan accepted a player as the best and played as one under him was when Imran Khan led the team. And the result was that they became world champions.

Akram candidly admitted that even now Pakistan players prefer a foreign coach because of their lack of trust in their former players who have become coaches, who they believe may have personal agendas. The new PCB chairman is also a political appointment but Akram feels that a committee of top cricketers as honorary advisers would make a big difference. He believes that once a cricketer becomes a PCB employee, he will keep his mouth shut to ensure his continuity. It's time the PCB began trusting the views of those like Akram and used them to engineer a turnaround.