Former Pakistan cricketer lists reasons why ‘Indian cricket system is much better than Pakistan’
Indian cricket, currently, enjoys an enviable status. In the last few months, Team India, on various occasions, has shown its depth and talent pool by making staggering comebacks from tough situations along with every player putting their hand up to perform. Be it against Australia, during the Border Gavaskar Trophy, or against England at home earlier in 2021, India has become an inspiration for teams around the world.
As Virat Kohli-led India prepares to take on Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final followed by a five-match Test series against England, numerous former and current cricketers, and experts are showering rich praise on the system put into place by the country. Moreover, the fact that India will send a second-string team to Sri Lanka bears testament to the strong cricketing culture of Indian cricket.
The latest to jump on the bandwagon is former Pakistan spinner Abdur Rehman, who stated that the Indian system is better than Pakistan’s and how well they take care of their players.
“Indian system is much better than Pakistan. Their level of domestic cricket is really high. Their attitude towards players is very good. Even their domestic cricket has a standard, so the players are treated accordingly. The match fees of their players are high. Their contracts are impressive,” observed Rehman while speaking
Forty-one-year-old Rehman also called out the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for their central contracts fiasco and for failing to make successful selections.
“Last year, PCB handed out central contracts and paid players ?50 lakh. But today, there is neither PSL nor domestic cricket. Who is to blame for this fiasco? There has to be a system in place. The current players as well as the upcoming generation must know how it works. The current PCB management seems to be more interested in safeguarding themselves. Players are picked randomly and dropped,” explained Rehman.
He added: “PCB needs to take a positive approach going ahead. Good players need to be brought into the setup, and they need to be honed and given a long enough run to prove themselves. If PCB keeps chopping and changing, neither will the team benefit nor the cricket board.”
Rehman played 22 Tests, 31 ODIs, and 8 T20Is for Pakistan, pocketing a total of 140 international wickets. He retired in October 2018.