SPORTS WORLD: Nasim Ashraf should be removed for repeated bad performances

Whatever good or bad is happening in the national cricket is because of a person who expects to be obeyed by other people and does not care about their opinions or feelings. till the change of hands.
Once a cricket analyst jokingly said: "For years, the PCB chiefs are appointed on a single consideration - they are all well-connected people, who owe their plush and prestigious position to the personal relationship with the leadership of the country."
However, under the prevailing system, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chiefs will continue to enjoy unlimited and absolute power and remain beyond accountability. So secure in their position, they hardly have to perform to justify their position.
These individuals rarely endorse the decisions, taken by their predecessors. When their so-called improvement plans tumble, they, if not removed, blame the players for the humiliation and constitute inquiry committees to identify the causes and analyse the team performance in the event or a debacle. But they hardly look at their own wrongdoing, which led to humiliation after humiliation.
The PCB is a classic example of individualism. Instead of learning lessons from the past experiences, those controlling the PCB continue to make tall claims regarding reorganisation of the administrative set-up, enforcement of discipline and restructuring of the team. The PCB is ruled by "dictators," both civilian and uniformed, imposed from the above, considers themselves the most wise men the cricket management in the world has ever been produced.
NEGLIGIBLE: Dr Nasim Asharf, under the tailor-made constitution, sidelined the associations, whose role in the PCB affairs is almost negligible and there is no concept of accountability and check and balance system. The PCB governing board, comprising non-technocrats, does not know the importance of the associations, which are the real resource of producing players.
Former Pakistan captain and PCB Chief Executive Majid Khan, commenting on the PCB's attitude to the associations, said: "The England and Wales Cricket Board is granting one million pounds each to the counties annually to strengthen them to produce good cricketers. But here in Pakistan, the non-technocrats in the PCB have centralised all the powers on the pretext that the associations are corrupt which is a funny allegation," he added.
Here one would like to refer to the PCB attitude towards the associations, which had been associated by the Cricket Board in organising domestic tournaments such as Under-19, One-day Internationals, Quaid-e-Aazm Trophy, Patron Trophy and Patrons Trophy, besides international home series.
But during the last over nine years, the associations had been sidelined from not only the domestic cricket affairs, but were also deprived of their right to organise home series of international matches. Recent being the examples of series with India, South Africa, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and even Asia Cup.
It was expected that the PCB Chairman would have a good combination of cricket and administrative knowledge to run the affairs of the game, but it is a pity that he chose such persons on the governing board, who hardly have any knowledge of the game or its management.
Commenting on the national cricket affairs, former PCB Chief Executive Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, former captain Imran Khan, former chief selector Hasib Ahsan and those associated with the national cricket affairs have stressed upon the Chief Patron to replace the present set-up with a truly democratic board. They opined that the present set-up was not in agreement with democratic norms. Arif Abbasi bitterly criticised the new constitution, and said the old one could have been amended by a two-thirds majority.
MAJID BLASTS PCB: Former captain Majid Khan, who had also acted as PCB chief executive in the late 1990s, said the recent decisions taken by PCB Chairman were harming the game. "It has been a practice for decades, but sorry to say the people hired in the recent years is just to oblige friends, which resulted in ruining of the game," he said.
"When I was the chief executive, the board was running with just 17 staff members and yet we were among the top two cricketing nations in the world," he said, adding: "But after that the PCB posts were awarded to 'friends' which resulted in debacles at the 2003 and 2007 World Cups and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006. "We could not qualify for even the second round despite the fact that the board has been run with 703 staff members today.
"In fact, the non-technocrat PCB officials always bowed to senior players in the team just to please them but, ironically, the team has gone down due to non-existence of discipline," Majid remarked. "I would like to ask Dr Nasim Ashraf to resign as the PCB Chairman after the Lahore High Court decision to restore Salim Altaf on his post," said Majid.
Financial irregularities. Majid Khan said: "Financial irregularities are on in the PCB." He demanded of the Federal government to audit the PCB accounts through National Assembly's public accounts committee to bring the real picture before the nation.
He also welcomed the decision of the Federal government of imposing income tax on the PCB in the fiscal budget. As regards financial irregularities, former Test opener and member of governing board Ejaz Butt is reported to have resigned form the PCB in protest against the sell off of the PCB's (National Stadium) prized land adjacent to National Coaching Centre in Karachi to the Pakistan International Airlines at throw away price for proposed construction of a five-star hotel.
He alleged that the PCB chief had taken this decision without taking the governing board into confidence. It may be recalled the land was allotted by the Chief Engineer of the Pakistan Public Works Department (Pak PWD) Kafeeluddin Ahmed Khan, a cricket enthusiast, to the National Stadium for the construction of a sports complex in the early 1950s.
WRONG POLICIES: Meanwhile, former Test captain and chief selector Aamir Sohail, concerned over the massive damage to the game and controversies associated with the PCB demanded of PCB Patron President Pervez Musharraf to replace Dr Nasim Ashraf with an honest and knowledgeable man and save the game from further damage.
Aamir also criticised the tapping/bugging incidents in the board's headquarters, and called for an end to these unlawful acts. Aamir argued that the PCB belonged to the cricketers and the public and it was not the property of doctors and bureaucrats.
"There is no big secret about why you are doing these illegal things. It is because you feel threatened by the true professionals. Is sacking an honest technocrat just so he is unsupportive of the wrongdoing corporate culture "It shows your mindset, that you can only work with incompetent officials who just dance on your tune," Aamir remarked.