Ordering an inquiry amounts to following the herd (3 July 1999 )

3 July 1999

Ordering an inquiry amounts to following the herd

Imran Khan

By ordering an inquiry into Pakistan's humiliating defeat in the World Cup final nawaz Sharif has pandered to public hysteria that insists that every time the national team lose there has to be some conspiracy.

Rather than behaving like a leader and telling the people to accept defeat with dignity he has jumped on the bandwagon and has tried to cash in on the public's disillusionment with the cricket team.

There definitely needs to be an inquiry into controversies relating to cricket but not into the Pakistan team's World Cup performance. Having been there throughout the duration of the World Cup, I can confidently say that the team did not capitulate in the World Cup final due to casinos, womanising, drinking, match-fixing or late nights but simply because they could not withstand the pressure of the big occasion.

Pressure is something Nawaz Sharif can never understand, playing cricket at the Lahore Gymkhana with his personal umpires who would never dare to give him out without his consent. But a World Cup is more a test of nerves than a test of skill. Hence the teams that win the World Cup are not necessarily the teams which are the most talented. In the 1983 World Cup, the West Indies were not just the most talented team in the competition, but the greatest team in cricket history. In that World Cup final they could not chase a paltry total of 180 runs against a mediocre Indian bowling attack - being bowled out for 140. A few months later the same West Indies team went to India and decimated the same Indian team in both the Tests and One-dayers.

Sunil Gavaskar predicted very early on during the 1992 World Cup that Pakistan would win. His brilliant cricket mind had assessed Pakistan's performance in the past years and had decided that the team had the best nerves in the competition. When I predicted in this year's World Cup that Australia would be the most dangerous team in the competition ( even though Pakistan were the most talented one) it was because they were handling the pressure better than all the other competitors. Moreover while the Australians went into the final playing two of the toughest matches in the competition against South Africa, Pakistan strolled into the final winning one-sided matches against two of the weakest teams. So in the final, despite being well placed at 67 for 2, the moment they lost a wicket they completely lost their nerves and simply buckled under the enormous pressure that players are under in World Cup final.

Not only were Pakistanis extremely disappointed at the humiliating capitulation but most of the cricketing world (including Australians) who were looking forward to a clash of the titans, felt let down. Like every Pakistani I felt deep disappointment at the team' backboneless performance, yet, I am certain there was no conspiracy.

I have no doubt that what must have added to this pressure on the players was the fact that the result of the Qayyum judicial inquiry was withheld until after the World Cup. The players must have felt as if a sword was hanging over their heads - if they win then they would be cleared if not then the verdict would go against them.

So my first suggestion to Nawaz Sharif is to have an inquiry into why the findings of the Qayyum report had to wait for the World Cup final to be over. If certain players had been found guilty then why were they allowed to play in the World Cup, if no one was guilty then was it not unfair to the players to go into the World Cup with the added tension of the inquiry. Is this not just a case of expediency rather than justice? In the past decade our judiciary has been rapidly losing ceredibility. Both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto along with their colleagues have massive corruption cases against them while they are in opposition. The moment they are in power they are immediately cleared of all wrong doing.

The second inquiry should be conducted into our cricket board. Why did they not hold a proper inquiry into the match-fixing allegations when they first surfaced in 1993-4?

Was the whole issue swept under the carpet because the board officials did not want to take action against certain cricketers because the team would be weakened? And if performances were poor the Board officials would lose their jobs along with the many perks and privileges.

On the other hand, Australia's cricket board acted swiftly when two of their players were involved with the bookies. They conducted an inquiry, punished the players by fining them and the whole affair was over quickly. Had prompt action been taken by the PCB Pakistan cricket would not have gone through the trauma and humiliation of the past five years. Crimes take place in every society; civilised societies are those that make sure crime does not pay.

Nawaz Sharif's third inquiry committee should be on how is it that in an Islamic country where he is promising to implement Sharia, such an enormous amount of gambling takes place on cricket. One of the reasons why there is such an irrational reaction the moment the national team loses is because so much money is lost in gambling on cricket matches. Since most of those who gamble usually have little understanding of the intricacies of the game (otherwise they would not bet on one-day cricket), whenever they lose they protest the loudest that the team fixed the match.

Nawaz Sharif should find a way to stop this epidemic of gambling which apart from depriving so many of their hard earned money also makes us into bad losers. He should appoint a special committee to deal with yellow journalism in cricket. A lot of cricket journalists are simply incapable of technically analysing the game and as a result have come upon a simple formula. Winning is equal to good behaviour, team spirit, early nights, jumma prayers and hard work. Losing equals boozing, gambling in casinos, womanising match fixing and infighting in the team.

Ever since I played cricket this simplistic formula has caused a considerable amount of pain to the sportsmen and their families. This inquiry should be conducted by the union of journalists and they should ensure that unethical journalists should be held accountable for misleading the public and destroying the reputations of leading players. After all, nothing happened to the Indian cricketers whose country despite being seven times the size of Pakistan failed to enter the semi-finals. Same was the case with England who invented the game and could not even qualify for the Super Sixes. I know of no cricketing country where losing leads to so much witch hunting.

Finally he should set up an independent Ehtesab cell to investigate the extremely serious and conclusive charges of corruption, tax-evasion, money-laundering and fake bank accounts levied against him in a recent BBC documentary. How can the Chief Executive of a country set up an enquiry into any sort of corruption when he is accused of corruption on a much more massive scale.

Nawaz Sharif must realise that if he is serious about Sharia then first and foremost he has to lead by his own example as did our Holy Prophet (PBUH). What example is being shown to the youth of Pakistan by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto?

Not only has the BBC documentary provided proof of the Prime Minister's corruption but there are also 30 references of corruption lying against him in the Ehtesab Cell. Benazir Bhutto on the other hand has already been convicted of corruption. Moreover, a few weeks back she had the audacity to go on BBC and shamelessly admit to Sir David Frost that she was very rich and had concealed her wealth abroad; thereby revealing that she had avoided paying wealth tax on her assets. How does the ruling elite of our country expect the people to uphold high moral values and ethics when they themselves have set such a despicable example.

Source :: The Dawn (www.dawn.com)