2023 brought stars with it that evince a dark future for Pakistan as they ended their home campaign of the WTC cycle with not a single feather in their cap. (It might open the floodgates for plumes to boast off in the days to come). The Men in Green (whites, to be more precise) have been staking on thin ice and walking on eggshells all this time.
Sarfaraz Ahmed has reaped the harvest of all this hard work. He proved himself to be extremely provident in managing the downtrodden state of affairs that engulfed him back in 2019. When everyone was trying to wipe the slate clean with him, he bounced back and spearheaded Pakistan’s campaign against the Kiwis. If life gives you another chance to cherish, grab it with eager hands at the drop of a hat as Sarfaraz did. That would leave you with nothing to repent for the time being. He would surely cherish that drive to cover until his grave. The NSK atmosphere was at once charged with excitement. And everyone could see a sweating face, on which a lascivious smile had immediately appeared. Being called into the team after a period of three long years (during which a day literally felt like a lifetime), he summoned at once the necessary reflexes and transformed into the prima ballerina who seizes the spectator's eyes. It was only perseverance that carried him through the ordeal of all this tumult as he managed to push his way through a perimeter ringed around by towering mountains and impassable deserts. What absorbed the eye is the subtle coloring and texture of his comeback picture that was created by the strokes of his MB. The clouds which had stormed over his career for the past three years have dissipated. The rains which had earlier been pattering against the panes of his head have now been usurped by the scintillating sunbeams flickering through the window of his mind. Now, His spirit has been flowered by the magnolias and primroses, the gardens of which are painted on the canvas of this mind and across which he saunters amiably. The quintessence of darkness has now been shunned. The slapping waves with which he had been locked in a grinding struggle have now been pacified.
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Drastic times call for drastic measures. With an abrupt change in the PCB administration, does Pakistan seem to stand in good stead? Najam Sethi has sunk his teeth into the new job as the PCB chairman but does he really cut the mustard?
What Ramiz Raja did apparently seemed madness, but there is at least an ounce of method in that madness. His mind was inoculated with doctrines that had some currency that resulted in the birth of new perspectives on Pakistan cricket. One of them was indeed not kowtowing to any pressure group, what may come. Though, it ultimately took his head to the platter as death conferred the Royal Mantle on his PCB. As per the new establishment, allowing for the intrusions, his conduct admits no excuse. Was he really wet behind the years; even after all these years of being bonded with cricket? What a comedown for him! Accounts were settled with him in the blinking of an eye. At this juncture in time, he absolutely needs a soul to whom he can pour out his tale of misfortunes after falling into a watchful silence. He would now be taken as a Sun-tanned lanky philosopher idling his days away on the balcony.
Those wagging admonitory fingers at him would surely have a way when they unleash polemics at him as Pakistan hadn’t had a whale of a time under him. And there would surely be some who intend to cajole Mr. Sethi into not giving up the day job. Whatever it may be in the upper echelons, it would be safe to assert that Pakistan has surely been put in a tight spot and is like waving a dead chicken.
After the abolition of Ramiz’s constitution and all his novelties, hot questions are too being bombasted at what lies in store under Mr. Sethi. Will this enterprise succeed? Does Pakistan seem to be in the right vein? Does it seem to be coming on well? Do the new wizards have the mantle to grapple with the appalling conditions and the bad times that have descended rather than succumbing to injuries? Will they be able to weather the storm pretty well which brings with it a fresh set of challenges?
The shell remains but is shorn of substance. A state of virtual paralysis has been the fate of PCB lately which has eventually driven the on-field performance of the XI into a state of fury and disorder that has made every fan goweak in the knees. One could hear the low rumble of the system searching for its new equilibrium, which fingers crossed, will be found soon. Whose actions precipitated a crisis is not the point to ponder. What really demands musing over is that Sethi sahib has got things to tend to.