Be it battling a Balrog in the Mines of Moria or fighting an equally terrifying beast, the Bazball, in Multan, a wizard is always there, standing at the other end saying ‘YOU SHALL NOT PASS’. Gandalf in the former case, Abrar Ahmed in the latter. One can draw plenty of parallels between both face-offs. But is PCB ensuring Abrar’s Gandalf-like evanescence becomes one of the list too? The recent PCB contracts can support the hypothesis.
Either that or the cricket-governing body of Pakistan, like the fans of the games in the country, makes its decisions influenced by availability heuristics. What else can explain the exclusion of the team’s main spinner, if not the main bowler, in red-ball cricket from the central contract? One could argue the decision was made keeping in view that Pakistan plays a meagre amount of Test cricket. Since Abrar has not yet broken into the white-ball side of the game, the governing body thought it was only fitting he stayed out of the list.
Who else got PCB central contracts?
This then raises questions about granting the contracts to other players who are either not a part of short format plans of the men in green or have hardly played any international match with the white ball. For instance, Sarfaraz Ahmed is in category D of PCB Central Contracts and there is almost negligible chance of him making way to the 50-over or shorter games, especially in the presence of Mohammad Rizwan and his apprentice Mohammad Haris.
The Unchosen Chosen One
For Abrar Ahmed, the country’s first mystery spinner, life will be hard without a contract. Besides domestic tournaments, he has not played any other white ball tourney lately. And even in the Pakistan Super League, where he plays for Islamabad United, the mystery tweaker got only a couple of games to flaunt his skills. The World Cup can be a turning point for him but as a part of travelling reserves, that path too will not be smooth.
Can it hurt Pakistan in the long run?
It likely will. The tenure for PCB Central Contracts, unlike previously, is three years this time. Pakistan will play around 17 Test matches in the same duration. Seeing from where we stand now, Harry Potter will have to suffice with these matches only, should he not barge into the white-ball game. Barging into white-ball cricket is no fun either. In T20Is, Pakistan’s spin department is pretty much well-set. The spin problem in ODIs will not matter after this World Cup, at least, until after next year’s T20 World Cup.
Also, Workload management comes hand in hand with playing shorter formats of the game. Sadly, Pakistan doesn’t have a very good reputation for managing the workload and injuries of players. Ahmed has already sat out many matches because of the lower back injury he picked while representing Karachi Kings in the PSL a few years ago. Losing Abrar even for one Test series now can turn out ugly for Pakistan.
The Way Forward
Luckily, in reality, things often are not as daunting as anticipation makes them seem. More than most for this team, for whom unfathomable stuff keeps on unfolding again and again. Would Pakistan have known what talent Mohammad Haris holds, had he not accidentally been ushered into the squad in the previous World Cup? A similar silver lining can appear in the dark sky for Abrar too. Miracles, after all, are what has always fueled this team, so why not for another case? At least, until the management decides this way of handling things is not sustainable, regardless of what history suggests.
