KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director of High Performance Aqib Javed believes the growing influence of franchise leagues has damaged Pakistan cricket and weakened the country’s red-ball structure.
Speaking on ARY News program ‘Sports Room ‘, Aqib said Pakistan, the West Indies, and Sri Lanka have been among the countries most affected by the rise of franchise leagues.
He pointed out that international players now feature in only five to six Test matches, eight to 10 One-Day Internationals and more than 35 T20Is annually before going on to play multiple franchise leagues.
“A player who plays around 90 T20 matches in a year and does not play even a single first-class match will naturally move away from red-ball cricket. If players are not playing first-class cricket, how can their performances in the longer format improve?” he said.
Aqib revealed that, after the players returned to Pakistan cricket in October two years ago, the board reviewed the players’ central category and abolished the A category because their performances did not justify its continuation.
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“We cannot award A-category contracts simply for the sake of it. The performances are not there,” he added.
The former fast bowler also expressed concern over the declining interest in Test cricket, saying many players no longer view it as a priority.
“If you ask players, they say they are not focused on playing Test cricket. Look at what is happening in the West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Australia. Beyond their first three fast bowlers, they struggle to find quality replacements,” he said.
Responding to criticism over spinner selections, Aqib insisted there was no personal bias in the decision-making process.
“I have no ego issue with spinners. When we make selection decisions, we do not pay attention to the outside noise. Ahead of the Champions Trophy, we were trying to build the best possible squad, but unfortunately the results did not go our way,” Aqib Javed concluded.
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