MOVING AHEAD

PSL in Pakistan, better India-Pakistan ties part of Mani's vision

by Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi • Last updated on

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Though the PCB constitution grants a week-long window for the newly-elected chairman to take charge of the affairs, Ehsan Mani was initiated as the chairman upon his election with immediate effect. He then chaired a Board of Governors meeting, approved Pakistan's squad for the Asia Cup, and talked to the media to layout his strategy to better Pakistan cricket. He spoke at length about how he envisions to improve domestic cricket, ensure transparency and accountability, host more top-flight cricket in the country, and deal with the BCCI over the course of his three-year-long term.

Strengthening domestic cricket as it is the nursery of cricketers. We have to begin (the work) from school and district cricket. On top of them would be regions. We will take Departments (Service Organisations) on board in whatever we do because they are the biggest employers of the cricketers and they provide structure. I met with Patron and publicly expressed to have less teams in domestic (cricket) to have more quality and he suggested to have an Australian model but we instead have to invent a Pakistani model because we have different circumstances. But in principle, it's only quality teams that will be playing first-class cricket, and we at the end will have a full back-up of 16-18 (players) in the system fully ready all the time. We will create a task force for this and consult all the stakeholders including the former cricketers. The basic purpose is to strengthen Pakistan cricket.

Empowering regions because nowhere in the world cricket is run centrally. Our aim should be to authorise regions so they can generate funds and develop cricket in the areas of their jurisdiction. Our stadiums are in a poor state. It is not the cricket board's job to fix them. The regions should be running the grounds. If our structure is up to the mark, it will improve our cricket. All the teams that perform on a consistent basis like England, Australia, New Zealand, and India have good governance. A good governing board doesn't have any outside pressures and there's only one aim - to run a professional team on a professional basis.

Redefine PCB's structure as it has grown over the years. There are 900 employees currently and I doubt there's a cricket board bigger than this in terms of manpower. This is because it is being run centrally. It will be sorted out when we delegate power to the regions. The money that we can save [by cutting the board's expenses] can be put into cricket and I can assure you that every single penny will be put into cricket. We will professionalise the board and hire professionals like any private corporation does to run its matters.

Amend the constitution of the board as there is a conflict of interest. The chairman and the chief executive of the board is the same person. A chairman has to monitor and ensure that the policies and strategies are being implemented by the chief executive. When the same person is coming up with the policies and implementing them, it leads to a conflict of interest. The formation of the board committees, according to the constitution, is not the best practice. The chief financial officer is a member of the audit committee despite him being the one who has to be audited.

Transparency and accountability. Whatever we do, will be transparent. All the decision and all the financial matters. It will not only be available to the journalists and stakeholders but also to the general public as they are the biggest stakeholders of Pakistan cricket.

Host the entire PSL in Pakistan as it will increase the brand's value. We will have eight matches of the next PSL edition in Pakistan. It has already been committed to the franchises and we will continue to increase the number of matches to be held in Pakistan. Small steps have been taken in the last three years that have helped in confidence building for international players. There will be some who will have reservations to play in Pakistan. But, our aim will be to bring cricket to Pakistan. Eventually, Pakistan should play all of their matches in Pakistan but it cannot be said whether it will happen tomorrow or after five years. Australia insisted on playing against Pakistan in 1998 though there were not any incidents in the country in those things. These are the challenges that we will have to overcome.

Build relationship with India again. I had never said that Pakistan's case against the BCCI in the ICC was on weak grounds. I had said that there are two ways to solve an issue. The first is to sit on a table and discuss it out. The second is to take a legal action. When India was playing Pakistan in 2004, I was ICC president. I had talked to their board and the government to understand their concerns. They asked me to grant them a year to sort it out internally. I went back to them after a year and they came here. We have to form relationships and trust. Indian and Pakistan boards used to be very close during the times of Jagmohan Dalmiah and when we had Tauqir Zia, Khalid Mehmood, and Arif Abbasi. Our chairmen had relationships with their Indian counterparts and when there are relationships, there is no fighting. The PM has taken a big step by inviting [Navjot Singh] Sidhu for his oath-taking ceremony. And, his offer to India that Pakistan will take two steps towards it when it will take a step towards Pakistan will also be seen in cricket.

But... I can tell you I will not request India to play with us. Their own policy has been contradictory, as they are always ready to play in multi-nation tournaments like the Asia Cup and the World Cup but renege on bilateral arrangements. So I never understood their positions and the basis of their policy. Even when I was at the ICC, they used to threaten to pull out from ICC tournaments. I told them that I could suspend their membership but in my position here, I obviously can't do that. The ICC since then has been quite different, with India's influence far greater, but I will fight from Pakistan's corner. If it was at an earlier stage [of the PCB-BCCI legal dispute], I could have sat with the BCCI at the table to sort this out, but the process has started and gone too far to be pulled back. All the documents have been exchanged and the hearing is set for October 1. So withdrawing it at this stage will make us look weak. Moreover, I am very optimistic that (the head of dispute committee) Michael Beloff is a strong arbitrator; he was appointed in my time at the ICC. He won't be under any pressure and everything will be done according to the law and on merit.

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