Mohsin Naqvi vows to fix long-term woes of national cricket team
By News Desk
August 26, 2024 07:05 PM
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has vowed to leave the national cricket team in a stronger position before stepping down from his role, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
In a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Monday, just a day after the Shan Masood-led XI suffered a crushing defeat to Bangladesh in the Rawalpindi Test, PCB Chairman expressed his determination to address the team's ongoing challenges.
"I will fix the team before I leave," Naqvi assured, acknowledging the poor performance that has plagued the national team for the past three years.
“I don’t have a magic wand” to fix the issues.”
Naqvi stressed the need for long-term planning to revive the sport in the country.
“We will have to do comprehensive planning to fix cricket, “he remarked.
He also provided key details about the upcoming Champions Cup.
The PCB chairman hoped that new players would emerge during the upcoming Champions Cup and mentioned that domestic cricket needed to improve. “If domestic cricket improves, then surgery will happen.”
He stated that Waqar Younus would take charge of a team as a mentor for the Champions Cup. The former fast bowler was appointed as an adviser until the mentors’ setup was complete, according to Naqvi.
“We don’t have any software to know the whereabouts of the backup players,” the PCB chairman said.
He went on to add that it would give the PCB a pool of 150 players for selection. “These 150 players have been selected purely on merit,” he said and added that the event would end in the last week of September.
Naqvi revealed that some people wanted him to resign four days after he took the position of PCB chairman. “I cannot resign just because some people want me to.”
He admitted that the team's recent performance has been "very disappointing" and disclosed that a detailed pitch report has been requested to understand the contributing factors to the loss.