When Imran Khan took over as Prime Minister in the summer of 2018, the news was generally celebrated in the country's sports circles. After all, Imran is regarded as one of the greatest sports legends of the country. Many believed that with him at the helm, there was no reason why Pakistan sports will not be able to come out of a decades long downward spiral.

But more than three-and-a-half years later, no tears were shed in Pakistan's sports community over the news that Imran was sent packing as Prime Minister last week.

For Pakistan sports, instead of proving himself as a leader with a vision, Imran turned out to be as clueless as most of his predecessors. Some might say he fared even worse. And not without reason.

It was evident during his tenure that sports never figured on Imran's priority list. And when it occasionally did, sports for him just meant cricket. Every other sport was largely ignored.

During his tenure, there was a lot of talk about having a comprehensive national sports policy. There was this promise of developing a proper sports culture in Pakistan. Imran did dream about bringing revolutionary changes in Pakistan sports by running it the way sport is run in countries like Britain and Australia. But the only thing he managed in a bid to realise that dream was dismantling the existing system without being able to replace it by the one that he had promised to deliver. In the end, all his efforts did more harm than good to Pakistan sports.

It's an open secret that Imran had an aversion to the departmental system in Pakistan sports. Soon after taking over as PM, he issued instructions to abolish it. And with this one whimsical act, the government made hundreds of sportspersons jobless. In a country like Pakistan where millions struggle to find livelihood, a secure job is like a lifeline to many a sportsperson. You take that away and an athlete will, more often than not, have to make a choice. To continue following his dream or to find a job to earn his bread and butter. In most cases, as we have seen in the recent past, he or she will have to go for the latter option.

Take for instance the case of Mohsin Khan. He is one of the country's most experienced cyclists. He had a secure job with Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). But on the former PM's orders, the company, like many others, laid of it;s sportspersons and Mohsin was one of them.

Today, he spends hours loading trucks at Peshawar's vegetable market. Cycling has taken the back seat.

"Losing my job was a huge setback for me," says Mohsin. "I used to get Rs65,000 as salary (from SSGC) but now I am jobless. To keep surviving, I load trucks in Sabzi Mandi in Peshawar as I have to look after my children," he adds.

Mohsin was part of the Pakistan team that featured in the recently-held Asian Cycling Championship in Dushanbe. But that could be his last international assignment as Mohsin doesn't have the luxury of finding ample time to train anymore.

"When I will work throughout the day in Sabzi Mandi then how will I be able to focus on my training?" he asks.

Then there is Mohammad Waheed. An exceptionally-talented young footballer, Waheed stands at the crossroads after getting the axe from SSGC just like Mohsin.

Waheed has played for Pakistan Under-19s and is regarded among the leading prospects for the future. But he's jobless and might be forced to quit football.

"It's a painful situation for me," says Waheed. "I can't focus on my football if I'm jobless."

There are hundreds of similar cases spread across the world of Pakistan sports.

Depriving sportspersons of their jobs wasn't the only misstep taken by the previous government. It tried and failed to resolve the thorny issue of finalising and implementing a national sports policy.

It also did a big disservice to Pakistan sports by appointing a person with no knowledge of sports as Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) and not much interest in it either.

Imran handpicked Fehmida Mirza to run the IPC Ministry. Unfortunately, sports in Pakistan fall under the jurisdiction of the IPC Ministry. With Fehmida at the helm, things only got from bad to worse for Pakistan sports. Just take a look at the fiasco related to the next edition of the South Asian Games, which Pakistan is supposed to host, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Here, I would also like to talk about the Kamyab Jawan Programme. A much-touted project by the previous government, the programme looked good on paper. Its Kamyab Jawan sports drive was launched with claims that it was the biggest sports programme in the country's history. A special song was released and plans were announced that talent hunt drives and training camps will be held all over the country in 12 different disciplines inducing football, cricket, hockey, badminton, boxing, handball, judo, squash, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.

But this drive, too, turned out to be as hollow as several other promises made by the former PM. With little homework done to actually execute the plans, it was quite obvious that the drive was little more than a gimmick.

I talked about this drive with my good friend Aamir Bilal, a sports analyst with expertise in sports management and sports for development.

He, too, agreed that the drive lacked any substance. He, too, expressed his disappointment with Imran's failure in his half-hearted campaign to revive Pakistan sports.

"Every individual has their strengths anchored in their past. When Khan sahib came to power I was quite optimistic like many other Pakistanis that the good days of Pakistan sports have finally arrived. I thought that the long standing dream of nation building through sports that I always shared with the late Ashiq Qureshi and many other sports lovers will now materialise," he says.

"I thought that Khan sahib will now use sports to provide job opportunities to the talented youth of this country. I thought that things would go beyond lip service and a comprehensive sports policy would emerge as an engine for development. I thought that sports will be revived in education institutions and sports education will find its rightful place in new syllabus reforms.

"Unfortunately there were no thoughtful steps in the right direction. In fact the reverse happened on the national sports landscape. The former PM's directions to eliminate departmental sports without developing a parallel system brought great difficulties and challenges for Pakistani sportspersons."

Aamir, who is also a qualified basketball coach, hopes that the new government will have a greater focus on sports.

"Our society is deeply polarised today with loads of social ills. Sports if understood and applied in its social and cultural context in Pakistan holds great potential to offer its fruits to the young. I hope and pray that any government in power that can understand the true potential of sportsmen and integrate sports in its short, medium and long term development strategies can earn great benefits beyond a few international medals," he concludes.

In Imran, the world of Pakistan sports expected a saviour. What it got was disappointment. What it will have to learn is that nobody is coming to save it. Only a collective effort which has to come from within the country's sports community can trigger a revival of our sporting fortunes. The government can help by dishing out much-needed funds and by refraining from needless interference. Over the years, Pakistani sportspersons have won world titles against all odds. They can do it again. We have to start believing again and we have to work for it.

Khalid Hussain is Editor Sports of The News   

khalidhraj@gmail.com