Mohammad Hafeez slams PCB for bringing radical changes to domestic cricket
The 38-year-old all-rounder has blamed the national cricket board for revitalizing the structure of domestic cricket that has lead to unemployment of about 800 domestic players. He took to Twitter to express his displeasure after the video of a domestic cricketer driving a pick-up van went viral.
Pakistan’s domestic cricket has undergone a radical change as the competition is now among only six teams instead of sixteen, removing the involvement of departmental teams. This change was brought about with a view to have a more concentrated pool of young cricketers and get rid of the old cricketers. But only 192 cricketers are eligible now to play domestic cricket, with almost 800 players and management staff now free agents with no teams to play for. Mohammad Hafeez was utterly saddened and disappointed by this issue, especially after seeing a viral video of a domestic cricketer Fazal Subhan driving a pick-up van.
Hafeez took to Twitter, shared the video, "So sad Really, Like him & (sic) Many others are suffering, New system will look after 200 players but 1000s of cricketers & management staff are unemployed because of this new model. I don't know who will take the responsibility of this unemployment of cricket fraternity, for all the victims," he added.
So sad Really , Like him & Many others r suffering, New system wil look after 200 players but 1000s of crickters & management staff r Unemployed bcos of this new model , I dont know who wil take the responsibility of this unemployment of cricket fraternity, 🤲🏼 for all the victims https://t.co/SaQfAKVFU2
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) October 12, 2019
Fazal Subhan played for HBL and was in contention for a place in the Pakistan Test team. He had already represented Pakistan A and Pakistan U19 sides. But after the removal of departmental cricket, he is now left without a team to play for and drives a pick-up van instead.
"Yes, I drive this (pickup) for bhara (fare). This is seasonal work. Some days there is a lot of work, and sometimes there is nothing for 10 days. I worked so hard to play for Pakistan. During departmental cricket, we were drawing a salary of Rs 100,000 but since the departments have shut down we are down to Rs 30,000-Rs 35,000, which is not enough to survive," he added.
Subhan heartbreakingly said that there was no guarantee of this job too. He has to forcibly do any job that comes his way in order to look after his family.
"I am grateful that at least I have this job right now because of the way things are, who knows if I would even have this tomorrow. We have no choice; we have to do something for our children."