Miandad recalled that former Test captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar introduced departmental cricket in the country which had a status equal to county cricket
Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has opined that the financially insecure cricketers will take advantage of making money in the wrong ways.
While speaking to this correspondent, the legendary batter said there had been a danger of match-fixing due to the absence of departmental cricket.
“Cricketers fear that they do not have financial security, so they try to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. Due to lack of financial security, they were tempted to make money illegally,” Miandad said.
“The purpose of departmental cricket was to provide financial comfort to the players so that they could concentrate on their game,” Miandad added by emphasizing he would continue to raise his voice on the resumption of departmental cricket.
“In the past, the big players did not have any source of income, they did not get much money in the game; Little Master Hanif Mohammad, who had done great deeds in the world of cricket, did not get anything,” he maintained.
Miandad recalled that former Test captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar introduced departmental cricket in the country which had a status equal to county cricket.
“Players considered themselves mentally safe, they worked hard and played an important role in the success of their team. Courtesy of departmental team, Pakistan became the world champion, today hundreds of cricketers are starving for bread,” he added.
Javed Miandad highlighted cricketers in countries like New Zealand, Australia and England are already financially comfortable, they vacate their seats soon after playing cricket as they do not face financial difficulties. Air Marshal Noor Khan provided financial security to the players in Pakistan and our country has advanced in the field of sports, not only in cricket but also in hockey and squash.
“Due to departmental cricket, many famous but illiterate players also got financial comfort and their children earned higher education,” he added.
“It is also important to organize regional cricket with the institutions. In the past, Karachi and Lahore used to have strong teams. With the end of institutional patronage, sports in the country declined. The PCB must introduce a system where departments along with associations have equal opportunities,” he maintained.
Javed Miandad concluded by saying that if there was the previous system existed in current chairman Ramiz Raja’s regime, it would have provided much better results.
He also asked the Prime Minister of Pakistan, also the Patron-in-Chief of the PCB, to announce the restoration of departmental cricket in the country as soon as possible
