Former chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tauqir Zia, in an exclusive interview Cricket Pakistan, criticised political parties for interfering with cricket. In addition to that, he put forth a number of suggestions for PCB to act upon, according to Pakistani Cricket-based online portal Cricket Pakistan.
"I personally think politics should be completely eradicated from our sports, especially cricket. Change means implementing your own ideas and anyone who comes in after Ramiz Raja, will only take things backwards because that is what change does," Tauqir elaborated.
"Our system has been like that and until or unless we change the system, nothing is going to happen. In order to force that change, you need to have a clear plan; whether there should be general elections or not," he said.
Criticising the political parties, Tauqir claimed that "politicians should focus on running the country instead."
Ever since Imran Khan's exit, the majority are requesting department cricket to be restored. Tauqir also shared his opinion on the matter.
"Departmental cricket provides two main benefits; provides employment to cricketers and since more cricket is being played, you get to see more talent on display," he said.
"If you just want to employ the cricketers then that can be done by hiring the players as administrators, coaches, and trainers for more than the 100 grounds we have across the country," Tauqir further added.
Lahore Qalandars have done phenomenal work on grassroots level and Tauqir suggested PCB to take similar initiatives and partner with different academies as an optimal solution.
"PCB should also take a note from Lahore Qalandars' book and can adopt that model too; they held trials throughout the country and that is how they came across talented players like Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan," he said.
