Rashid Latif Blames Lack of Progress on PSL, Compares With India’s Success

July 8, 2024 0 740

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif criticized Pakistan’s cricketing approach, contrasting it with India’s data-driven success and grassroots development, which has been strengthened by the IPL.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has critically compared Pakistan’s cricketing structure with India’s recent success in the T20 World Cup 2024, where India won over South Africa in the final. While Indian captain Rohit Sharma attributed their victory to years of hard work, Pakistan has faced criticism for inconsistent performances and internal unrest since winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.

Latif highlighted India’s advancement through data-driven strategies in the IPL, contrasting it with Pakistan’s slower progress in the PSL. He emphasized that India’s cricketing skills date back to earlier successes, benefiting from foreign coaching and robust grassroots development, factors contributing to their sustained growth in international cricket.

“It’s not that India became a reckoning force in world cricket recently, after the World Cup. Go back to 2007, 2011, 2015. They have gained so much knowledge from the foreign coaches and at the same time, they are working at the grassroots level without being noticed,” Latif said.

“And then IPL came into play. And now, they have all the best minds with them. They have Ponting with DC, Hussey, and Bravo. But hum kya kar rahe hain,” he added.

Rashid Latif also pointed out stark contrasts between India’s IPL and Pakistan’s PSL, noting how India transformed cricket into a global industry akin to its film sector. He criticized PSL’s stagnant salary cap and lack of financial muscle to attract top international talent, contrasting it unfavorably with leagues like BPL.

“India, just like their film industry, developed a cricket industry. We treat cricket as a hobby that’s why we couldn’t turn it into a business. PSL is still there from where it had started. The highest salary cap is $1.40 lakh. Why can’t they push it further? Why can’t we have players like Mitchell Starc or Oat Cummins? Because we don’t have the money so there’s in no business,” Latif said.

“People who conceptualized PSL were thrown out within a year. They had a vision to expand it but it never happened. Humse zyada players Bangladesh mein khel rahe hain (BPL has more foreign players than PSL). Moeen Ali is there, and so is David Miller, just because they have the money. We couldn’t progress,” he concluded.