The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is one of the most controversial cricket boards in the world and they are now going through tumultuous times. This comes on the back of a dismal by the Pakistan Cricket Team where they failed to make the tournament semi-finals and won just four matches along the way.
After that performance, Pakistan made wholesale changes to their team by sacking the coaching staff and their ODI captain. And now, things have gone from bad to worse as the PCB have decided to terminate the central contract of fast bowler Haris Rauf for refusing to join the team on the tour of Australia last year.
Rauf chose to skip the tour of Australia to manage his workload and chose to play in the Big Bash League instead. Rauf’s decision sheds light on the age-old debate of franchise commitments versus national commitments. While most players give into the lure of franchise cricket, it has put a major question mark on the future of the longer formats of the game. And Rauf’s case is probably the first time where a cricket board has taken a firm stance on the matter.
While the decision to terminate Rauf’s contract may seem a bit harsh and throws Rauf’s career into jeopardy, it does set a precedent for other boards to follow, if they will. As far as the implications of this move are concerned, only time will tell if this move is a mistake or a masterstroke from the PCB.
