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Former captain Rashid Latif blamed the IPL for the rapid downfall of Pakistan cricket.
While the Indian Premier League continues to go from strength to strength, Pakistan cricket is at its lowest ebb. Gone are the days of Pakistan being labelled as 'The Unpredictables', let alone a force in the sub-continent. Their cricket has spiralled down, and how? They have yet to win an ICC tournament since the 2017 Champions Trophy, and losses against sides like Zimbabwe and Afghanistan have only increased. Off the field, controversies such as the unceremonious sackings of coaches and captains have not helped, and the rut goes so deep that Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten would consider themselves extremely lucky and believe they dodged a bullet having successfully escaped the Pakistan cricket set-up.
The IPL and Pakistan cricket have nothing in common, yet one of their former captains has managed to combine the two. Rashid Latif, the former wicketkeeper, feels Pakistan cricket is on the decline because the BCCI has not allowed its cricketers to participate in the IPL. Cricketers from across the border have been banned from playing the Indian Premier League ever since the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008. It's been 17 years since the deadly attacks took place in the capital of Maharashtra, with BCCI's stance only strengthening with time.
Acknowledging all that the IPL has to offer, Latif feels Pakistan are lagging compared to the rest of the top teams, who get unparallelled exposure playing the league for two months in India.
"You look at the other countries in New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa, players from these countries have come to the IPL and played against the best players in the world. You have Pat Cummins, Jofra Archer and Kagiso Rabada, the best bowlers in the world bowling at you, the competition is high, so you learn a lot with high-class facilities," Latif was quoted as saying by NDTV.
"When you talk about football you think of Manchester United and Real Madrid, because they have the best facilities and players don't want to leave such places. So when you play in the IPL, the best league in the world, then when you go to other countries to play then you take it lightly."
Pakistan in IPL
The only time Pakistan's cricketers were part of the IPL was during its inaugural season. Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif, Younis Khan were some of the prominent figures from Pakistan in the first-ever edition in 2008, with Sohail Tanvir emerging as the Purple Cap winner with 22 wickets in 11 matches.
Latif also pointed out how teams like Afghanistan, once considered minnows, have benefitted from playing the IPL. They have earned the tag of giant killers and have defeated teams like England – twice – and South Africa to punch above their weight on more than one occasion. BCCI even offered a stadium in Greater Noida to Afghanistan to train in as their home ground away from home.
"Afghanistan's rise has also been through IPL, after Rashid Khan they have brought in Noor Ahmad, Azmatullah Omarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqi – they have caused instant impact on the national level as well," he mentioned.
