Pakistan cricket’s downfall started when Imran Khan messed with domestic structure

Former chief selector and head coach Haroon Rasheed believes the downfall of Pakistan cricket started the moment former Prime Minister Imran Khan changed the domestic structure.

Haroon, who was part of the task force set up to study the domestic structure when Imran was the Prime Minister, revealed how his former Pakistan captain had insisted on changing Pakistan’s first-class structure to just five-six teams.

“I was part of the cricket board and task force, and I remember when we met with Imran, we submitted a hybrid domestic cricket model. But he rejected it outright,” Haroon said on a podcast on the ‘Smash It’ sports channel.

Imran was the Prime Minister from 2018 after his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, won the general elections, but he was voted out of power in 2022 and is now in Adiala Jail facing various charges related to his term.

The celebrated Pakistan captain, who won the 1992 World Cup for his country, had ordered a revamp of the domestic structure, reducing first class cricket from 10-16 teams to just five teams on the lines of the Australian structure.

Many cricket critics and analysts believe the move backfired for Pakistan cricket.

Haroon recalled that as Prime Minister, Imran was very busy with his other responsibilities. “How much time do you think a Prime Minister can give? We were ordered to submit a revised domestic cricket plan, and we did that, and it was a hybrid one,” Haroon said.

Haroon worked in the PCB after his retirement until 2020 in various influential positions, including chief selector, selector, head coach, head of high performance and development and manager.

“I remember we told Imran that the hybrid model was best for our cricket, as we had reduced teams to eight, but we had kept the participation of departmental teams in domestic cricket.

“But Imran, in his short meeting with us, rejected the hybrid model and said he didn’t want eight but a maximum of five to six teams in the domestic structure. We told him it would be better to gradually switch to a new domestic structure, but eventually you have to listen to the Prime Minister,” Haroon recalled.

“He might have meant well but it didn’t work out for Pakistan cricket.”

He said the task force was then told by the then board chairman Ehsan Mani to do as Imran wanted.

“We changed the domestic structure making it provincial cricket and leaving out departments, but I personally feel it was a wrong decision and it led to a downslide in our cricket standards,” Haroon feels.

Haroon said India’s meteoric rise in world cricket was rooted in their domestic cricket.

“People talk about the IPL but forget that in India they still have the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and their state-level associations are independent and have their own regular domestic events at the club level.

“In Pakistan, all powers are now with the PCB, which needs to decentralise power and give more independence to regional associations and departments, as was the case in the past.”