PCB under fire over Shozab’s appointment
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has once again come under heavy criticism after appointing a customs officer working in a warehouse in Lahore as an umpire for the final of Super Eight T20 competition to be played in Faisalabad.
Shozab Raza was recently nominated for the International Cricket Council (ICC) panel of TV umpires by the PCB — a move that was widely condemned by the domestic umpiring fraternity citing a clear bias in the decision since Raza is very inexperienced even at the first-class level.
He has been given the charge in five matches in the T20 tourney with two as on-field and TV umpire, while one as a reserve umpire.
Both of his assignments on the field are low-profile matches — Sialkot Stallions vs Hyderabad Hawks and Faisalabad Wolves vs Hyderabad Hawks. He will be performing duties as reserve umpire in the first semifinal, while he would officiate the final of the event as TV umpire besides performing the same duties in the second match of the tournament.
The umpiring fraternity has been furious over Raza’s appointment for the T20 final and nomination in the ICC and many have termed it as clear favouritism by the board.
“The PCB is lavishing him with these opportunities because he is a custom officer and board officials are often seen roaming around him to get their things cleared without any duty,” a senior umpire told ‘The News’ on Saturday.
“He cannot supervise a tense and high pressure match on field and that is why the PCB has appointed him in matches that will be played by Hyderabad Hawks, so that he doesn’t get exposed under pressure because the board’s prestige is at stake after his controversial and biased promotion.”
Meanwhile, a top PCB official has brushed aside any such claims and stressed that Raza’s appointment was purely on merit.
“Shozab Raza is fulfilling the board’s criteria of having good reports from the officials and the captains. I can assure you that his appointment is 200% on merit,” the official claimed.
“He was nominated without any bias, irrespective of being a custom inspector and there is no truth in reports that say the top officials are promoting him to get benefits because Raza is a custom officer.”
Another umpire said that getting favourable reports is very easy and any umpire can get good marks through captain reports by favouring them.
“Getting good reports is not a big achievement because our domestic cricket is very corrupt. I mean that corruption is not all about money, it’s about being biased, it’s about underperforming and it’s about turning matches on their head,” he said.
“The board can change reports or create fake ones if they want to promote someone, since there is hardly any accountability in our country and its institutions.”
But the PCB official defended this statement, saying that the board is not involved in promoting someone, adding that these are just mere allegations — those who have been left out are trying to bring bad name to the PCB to show their grudge.
Meanwhile, the PCB has not implemented on its earlier revelations of appointing umpires for the big matches after looking at their performances in the tournament.
Earlier in January, Director Cricket Operations (domestic) Sultan Rana said in an interview that the board had enforced a new policy of grading the performance of umpires in the wake of complaints against sub-standard umpiring in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final.
He said that the board has already enforced a system, where the umpires getting bad reports that of captains and match referee will have their number of matches cut, which in effect means less earning for them.
Rana was unavailable for the comment.
Meanwhile, another concerned authority said that only senior umpires were appointed for the important matches of the T20 competition.
“We have appointed all senior umpires for all crucial matches and could not implement on grading system because it would have been very hard for us to call someone instantly to supervise a final or semifinal from their cities, since this is a eight-day tournament,” he said.
He added that the junior umpires were not given tough assignments, since there was a fear that they would be overwhelmed by the pressure, as all the matches will be televised. When asked whether the same applies for Shozab Raza, the official declined to comment.
[Courtesy The News International]
Shozab Raza was recently nominated for the International Cricket Council (ICC) panel of TV umpires by the PCB — a move that was widely condemned by the domestic umpiring fraternity citing a clear bias in the decision since Raza is very inexperienced even at the first-class level.
He has been given the charge in five matches in the T20 tourney with two as on-field and TV umpire, while one as a reserve umpire.
Both of his assignments on the field are low-profile matches — Sialkot Stallions vs Hyderabad Hawks and Faisalabad Wolves vs Hyderabad Hawks. He will be performing duties as reserve umpire in the first semifinal, while he would officiate the final of the event as TV umpire besides performing the same duties in the second match of the tournament.
The umpiring fraternity has been furious over Raza’s appointment for the T20 final and nomination in the ICC and many have termed it as clear favouritism by the board.
“The PCB is lavishing him with these opportunities because he is a custom officer and board officials are often seen roaming around him to get their things cleared without any duty,” a senior umpire told ‘The News’ on Saturday.
“He cannot supervise a tense and high pressure match on field and that is why the PCB has appointed him in matches that will be played by Hyderabad Hawks, so that he doesn’t get exposed under pressure because the board’s prestige is at stake after his controversial and biased promotion.”
Meanwhile, a top PCB official has brushed aside any such claims and stressed that Raza’s appointment was purely on merit.
“Shozab Raza is fulfilling the board’s criteria of having good reports from the officials and the captains. I can assure you that his appointment is 200% on merit,” the official claimed.
“He was nominated without any bias, irrespective of being a custom inspector and there is no truth in reports that say the top officials are promoting him to get benefits because Raza is a custom officer.”
Another umpire said that getting favourable reports is very easy and any umpire can get good marks through captain reports by favouring them.
“Getting good reports is not a big achievement because our domestic cricket is very corrupt. I mean that corruption is not all about money, it’s about being biased, it’s about underperforming and it’s about turning matches on their head,” he said.
“The board can change reports or create fake ones if they want to promote someone, since there is hardly any accountability in our country and its institutions.”
But the PCB official defended this statement, saying that the board is not involved in promoting someone, adding that these are just mere allegations — those who have been left out are trying to bring bad name to the PCB to show their grudge.
Meanwhile, the PCB has not implemented on its earlier revelations of appointing umpires for the big matches after looking at their performances in the tournament.
Earlier in January, Director Cricket Operations (domestic) Sultan Rana said in an interview that the board had enforced a new policy of grading the performance of umpires in the wake of complaints against sub-standard umpiring in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final.
He said that the board has already enforced a system, where the umpires getting bad reports that of captains and match referee will have their number of matches cut, which in effect means less earning for them.
Rana was unavailable for the comment.
Meanwhile, another concerned authority said that only senior umpires were appointed for the important matches of the T20 competition.
“We have appointed all senior umpires for all crucial matches and could not implement on grading system because it would have been very hard for us to call someone instantly to supervise a final or semifinal from their cities, since this is a eight-day tournament,” he said.
He added that the junior umpires were not given tough assignments, since there was a fear that they would be overwhelmed by the pressure, as all the matches will be televised. When asked whether the same applies for Shozab Raza, the official declined to comment.
[Courtesy The News International]
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on 01:25.
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