The Butt Of All Problems!

He has been labeled a buffoon by former ICC President Malcolm Speed. His compatriots consider him the biggest threat to the game. Yet Pakistan Cricket Board’s ‘retired and retarded’ Chairman Ijaz Butt continues to grow strong, despite his buffoonery and threatening attitude. The latest ‘adventure’ he enjoyed was the sacking of perhaps the only ‘sane’ person in Pakistan cricket – one day skipper Shahid Afridi. Yes Shahid Afridi has had his bad days but he single handedly led the side into the semi final of the World Cup. He would have won the match had Misbah ul Haq not batted the way he did, had the fielders held onto their catches and had Tendulkar not been given as many as 5 lives. But since we are talking about Pakistan cricket, Misbah ul Haq has been rewarded with the captaincy and Shahid Afridi is now an ordinary player of the squad. Everyone knows that when it comes to Ijaz Butt, you are either with him, or against him. But the issue is that there are more people against him than those with him. The day he was appointed the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, nearly three years back, Salahuddin Ahmed resigned as the Chairman of the Selection Committee. Ijaz Butt brought in Abdul Qadir who resigned within a year, despite selecting the team that went onto win the World Twenty20. In came Iqbal Qasim who quit after he became convinced that Ijaz Butt was the butt of all problems. Sacking of Shahid Afridi as skipper of the one day side shouldn’t come as a surprise. When he was appointed as Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt had no issues except minor problems. Yet he managed to steer Pakistan cricket into one trouble after another, and today it has reached a point of no return due to his indecisiveness. He has destroyed the careers of all those who have defied him, and Shahid Afridi is now one such individual. Ijaz Butt also has changed as many as 3 coaches during his tenure – Geoff Lawson, Intikhab Alam and current coach Waqar Younis – while has tested Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Misbah ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdur Razzaq, Salman Butt and Shahid Afridi as captain of the national side in either tests or one dayers. He continues to listen to his aged colleagues Yawar Saeed (who never played Test cricket for Pakistan), Intikhab Alam (who played before most of the current players were born), Mohammad Illyas (who doesn’t even remember when he last played cricket) and many others who had undistinguished career before joining the current set up. One hopes that someone gets the message and removed the ‘Butt’ of all issues before Pakistan cricket reaches rock bottom!