Before coming to the affairs of the Pakistan cricket I would first of all like to bring some common facts of life to fore. The are three common things in everyone’s life

1. While crossing a road we something return from halfway as a speeding car did not allow us to cross over - Same situation can be applied on the Pakistan cricket captaincy as we just came back from half way

2. Mostly when we drive in the fast lane we believe that we are moving faster then those in the other lanes but we don’t want to realise that by just choosing the fastest lane one can’t reach the destination before others - Most players look for captaincy instead of winning matches for the country.

3. As most of us do while driving by nothing showing our intentions to trun right or left by an indicator, the cricket players also have no idea where they are heading and in the process they have to take risky decision.

After these daily life examples I will focus on the cricket affairs in the country. Whatever happened lately is actually not a new thing in the Pakistan cricket setup. This tussle between Players, officials and the board is an ongoing process sometimes a captain bears the brunt while sometime an official comes in the line of fire.

Starting from the 1992, after the World Cup triumph a bunch of players showed resentment over Imran Khan’s attitude and vowed not to let Imran lead the side in the following England tour. The players were of the view Imran’s focus was the Shaukat Khanum Hospital and he wanted to raise funds during England tour. After the pressure Imran backed off and Javed Miandad was appointed as captain.

Javed Miandad then was budged and Wasim Akram was appointed in his place which instigated a bitter row between the players with ended in a revolt and Wasim was replaced and Salim Malik later found himself at the helm of affairs but the uneasy relationship between the players continued

Not so far back in 2000 Moin Khan was given the charge however after board’s displeasure, Moin was forced to pass the baton to Waqar Younis who somehow tried to fight it out within the team but he was not lucky enough as he met the same fate and was forced to quit after 2003 World Cup.

I was appointed as the skipper after Waqar Younus’s departure and during that time the team was in the rebuilding phase and progressing but as a result of the love-hate relation between the board and myself, I was shown the door and Inzamam-ul-Haq was given the honour to lead the national side but Inzamam after sometime started to show his muscles which resulted in his ouster.

After Inzamam’s departure the board opted for Younus Khan but he refused while Mohammed Yousuf showed not offered for captaincy therefore young Shoaib Malik was asked to do the job. Yet again the hidden hands started working and subsequently Younus Khan became skipper.

Not to forget that under Younus Khan the team started to take off and not only won the World Twenty 20 Cup but qualified for the Semi final of the Champions Trophy.

However, the bitterness between the captain and others came to the fore and undue criticism from some quarters added fuel to the fire. If a make shift opener is accommodated then a section says its wrong, when specialist openers are picked the critics take a U-turn. Same is the case with playing or resting experienced players. The most read argument is that young players should be provided with an opportunity but when it is done the critics say why Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik or Mohammad Yousuf is dropped? So in this situation what can one do? The bottom line is that everyone has his own agenda and to curb this practice the cricket board must be firm.

This is not only happened with the captains but the coaches have also been dealt without dignity. What happened with Waqar Younis, during his tenure as bowling coach he worked hard with faster bowlers and it was evident in the number of no-balls they delivered which showed their discipline however Waqar was removed through pressure.

Lately Geoff Lawson was removed in spite of his good work. The work he did with the players is showing results now and Shahid Afridi is the prime example whose game has changed under Lawson who moulded Afridi in a proper batsman. The problem with Shahid Afridi was that he used to play with his bottom hand only however under Lawson’s guidance he was re shaped and now he seems a capable batsman who can stroke the ball all-around the wicket

Now when Yousuf has been given the responsibility the job is not done yet. As it is said that the future is planned in the present therefore the strategists must foresee the future and must workout that who would takeover after Yousuf or Younus?

There is an old story in which an old man, a boy, and a donkey we're going to town and it was decided that the boy should ride. As they went along they past people who exclaimed that it was the shame for the boy to ride and the old man to walk. The man and boy decided that may be the critics we're right so they changed positions. Later the past some more people who then exclaimed that it was a real shame for the man to make such a small boy walk. To two decided that may be they both should walk. Soon they past some more people who exclaimed that it was stupid to walk when they had a donkey to ride. The man and the boy decided may be the critics we're right so they decided that they both should ride. They soon past other people who exclaimed that it was a shame to put such a load on a poor little animal. The old man and the boy decided that may be the critics we're right so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed a bridge they lost their grip on the animal and the donkey filled into the river and drowned. The moral of the story is that if you try to please everyone you will finally lose you ? – This story can be easily applied on the affairs of the Pakistan Cricket Board.