Islamabad, Sep 6: Calls for the resignation of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi reverberated around the chamber during a contentious Senate session, as senators expressed their worries over the declining health of sports in the nation, including cricket. Leading the charge was Senator Ali Zafar, who criticized the existing sports administration harshly and emphasized the need for capable leadership.
Commencing his speech, Senator Zafar congratulated Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem on his recent success, calling him a national hero. But he soon turned his attention to the deterioration of other once-nationally prideful sports like squash and hockey. “Our cricket is ruined,” Zafar said, blaming the collapse on the PCB’s inept leadership.
Zafar specifically attacked Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the PCB, claiming that Naqvi lacks the knowledge and experience needed to effectively run the board. “The institution will be destroyed if the head is incompetent,” he declared, highlighting the negative effects of assigning unfit people to important roles. “I would become a butcher, not a doctor,” Zafar said, providing a vivid analogy that compared such appointments to appointing someone as the principal of a medical college without any medical training.
Senator Manzoor Ahmed, one of his colleagues, repeated the call for Naqvi’s resignation in response to Senator Zafar’s statements. Ahmed questioned why there were no comparable outcomes, pointing out that cricket players make between Rs. 4 and Rs. 6 million annually.
In order to ensure that the PCB has experts, he said, “An expert in this field should come forward.” The two senators demanded a more extensive Senate discussion on Pakistan’s sports industry’s general downturn and a reassessment of leadership and tactics to boost the nation’s athletic accomplishments.
