At last, Imran’s dream has come true-partially though. He always wanted to see domestic cricket in Pakistan to be played among cities, not departments. He was absolutely right. Who will spare time to watch a match between PIA and Habib Bank or other departments.
Now that T20 tournaments are being regularly held, in which teams representing cities take part, people are coming to grounds in hordes exactly as he predicted. And millions are watching the matches on television. Although there are too many T20 tournaments there seems to be no fatigue among watchers.
Why should there be any? I am a Pakistani. I love to see cricket games among different Pakistani cities. I have no interest in watching domestic cricket games played between departments. That is pathetic. Why I should I support NBP or PIA or WAPDA or KRL? What have I to do with these organizations? Even if I were an employee of any one of them, I wouldn’t support it.
But this improvement in the domestic cricket scene is only partial. Much more has to be done. Our cricket authorities have to replicate this effort in the first class tournaments. There should be matches only among cities or provinces. Departmental teams must be discarded.
Departments can sponsor any team they want. But the team should be called by the name of the city it represents, not by the name of the sponsor. Or the departments can sponsor individual cricketers who may be playing for different teams. Like HBL can continue to sponsor Younis Khan who plays for Abbottabad, Imran Farhat who plays for Lahore and Danish Kaneria who plays for Karachi.
I have heard former first class cricketers complain of lack of money and fame in first class cricket. They say that first class cricketers in England or Australia or other countries have earned considerable fame and money. That is because of the structure there. People go to watch matches between different counties in England. People go to watch matches between local teams in Australia and South Africa. If we want first class cricketers to gain fame and some money, we will have to alter the domestic cricket structure. Teams representing cities will attract a large number of people to grounds. Millions will watch the matches on TV. More money will be generated, which will go to the players. And the players who don’t get to represent Pakistan will not complain at the end of their career that they failed to earn money. They will have enough money to live a decent life.
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