After loss in the last Asia Cup and early exit from the T20 World Cup in the USA Pakistan cricket team has once again disappointed, rather shocked cricket fans and the entire nation.

This time the situation was more shocking, which was quite obvious, as this time they were whitewashed by low-ranked Bangladesh and that too at home ground.

As a result, Pakistan fell to their worst Test ranking (8th) in nearly six decades.

Pakistan cricket was reeling after their first-ever Test defeats against Bangladesh, the latest in a string of poor performances which have seen the game hit rock bottom.

The cricket-mad nation was left in despair after losing the second Test in Rawalpindi by six wickets.

It was the 10th winless home Test in a row for former powerhouses Pakistan and came hard on the heels of failing to get out of their groups at both the 50-over and T20 World Cups in the past year.

It is a huge setback and Pakistan cricket is at a crossroads. The whole nation was left embarrassed at the way they lost from good positions in both the Tests.

Losing consistently on home turf exposes a lot about the quality of our cricket. Pakistan have a dismal record in Tests at home during the last three years - six defeats and four draws, including England´s first-ever 3-0 series sweep there in 2022.

Pakistan will have to face a big challenge as in-form England are Pakistan’s next visitors and will play three Tests beginning in Multan on October 7.

Pakistan did not play as a unit and players looked scattered.

But are the players only responsible for putting Pakistan cricket in this state of affairs? The answer to this is ‘No’. Those at the helm of Pakistan cricket affairs, team management, cricket associations and above all poor domestic structure were all equally responsible to leave Pakistan cricket in tatters.

The issues extend beyond the players as instability within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also one of the reasons for this debacle. Happenings in the PCB during the past, the captaincy and management changes have all affected the performance of the team.

Above all Pakistan cricket needs a strong domestic structure to revive the game and raise a winning combination for international competitions.

The quality of our cricket has gone down with no proper grassroots activity and that is why we do not have proper back-ups.

With this latest setback, Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the final of the ICC World Test Championship have all but evaporated.

Unfortunately, Pakistan’s cricket team has failed to produce any commendable performances recently, leaving fans and cricket experts alike disheartened.

Without regular pace, the team cannot fully exploit favourable bowling conditions. People question the whereabouts of Pakistan’s fast bowling talent.

The real cause behind this downfall of Pakistan cricket is nothing but the present poor domestic structure as a result of non-independent

associations brought into existence with many dummy clubs across the country.

This has been done under too many amendments in the PCB constitution of their liking by those at the helm of affairs from time to time without realising that these amendments would destroy Pakistan cricket.

The worst damage was done in Ehsan Mani’ tenure as PCB chief when departmental cricket was banned under the directives of the then Prime Minister Imran Khan with the plea that only regional cricket would be promoted under the pattern of Australian domestic cricket.

Perhaps the then PM and Patron of PCB Imran Khan had forgotten that he himself was a product of Departmental Cricket.

Mani’s decision to stop departmental cricket was a damaging one as thousands of Pakistani cricketers, whether young or old, were rendered jobless. Perhaps Mani’s PCB did not know that Australia and even England have altogether different cultures.

Pakistan has a population of over 24 crore and Australia has far less population. As such Australia can afford a six-team domestic cricket system. But more important is the fact that Australia and even England can ignore departmental cricket because of their economic system where every unemployed person has social security and he is paid if unemployed.

Pakistan does not have such an economic system or support for unemployed ones. Who will pay Pakistan cricketers if they are unemployed? As such Mani’s PCB with closure of departmental cricket rendered thousands of players jobless. However the things were remedied after the new government took over after the ouster of Imran Khan’s government. The new PCB set-up finally decided to restore departmental cricket.

Now coming close to the point, unless and until the country’s cricket governing body does not have a proper, reliable and independent domestic structure/system, it can’t raise a world class team and a winning combination. Australia, England and for that matter India too have strong and properly elected independent cricket bodies and their units which work independently and fairly for the development of the game. Perhaps that is why the standard of Shield Cricket in Australia, County Cricket in England and Ranji Trophy and other tournaments in India is almost close to international standard.

But here in Pakistan the standard of Quaid-e- Azam Trophy, Patron’s/ President’s Trophy and that of other tournaments remains far behind the above-mentioned three countries. The reason is that the associations are not elected independently and fairly. As such players selected for the national events are not picked fairly and many talented and deserving players are ignored and those picked for the national events belong to those who are controlling the associations and may have won the elections because of fake/ bogus clubs.

The PCB must hold free and fair elections of the associations after fair scrutiny and weeding out of bogus and fake clubs.

Lastly it is now for the PCB to accept the challenge of putting the things right to revive Pakistan cricket. Those at the helm of affairs must work with a positive mind to see Pakistan cricket moving upwards and in the right direction.

Veterans like Arif Abbasi, Salahuddin Sallu, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram from Karachi, Lt Gen (retd) Tauqir Zia, an independent Ramiz Raja, Khalid Mahmood and Aamir Sohail from Lahore, Saleem Asghar Mian, Majid Khan, Shakil Shaikh and Shoaib Akhtar from Islamabad can be helpful.