Misbah-ul-Haq delighted with restoration of departmental cricket
The PCB management committee formally issued notifications for the restoration of departments on Monday
Former captain and head coach of Pakistan Misbah-ul-Haq has said that he is delighted with the restoration of departmental cricket, claiming it will produce talented cricketers.
Najam Sethi, the Chair of the PCB Management Committee, on Monday formally approved notifications for the restoration of Departments/Services Organisations, Regions, and District/Zonal Cricket Associations under the PCB Constitution 2014.
"Overall, there are a lot of advantages [of the restoration]. Players will get several opportunities and also get financial benefits. When different departments work on different players, it won't put workload and pressure on the PCB," Misbah told Geo News.
However, Misbah admitted that it will be a challenge for the departments to bring back everything.
"It will be a challenge for the departments to bring back all those things because it was a running setup that was closed," the former skipper said.
The former batter gave examples of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited's (SNPL) team, saying that the department produced great talents like Yasir Shah, Imran Butt, Mohammad Rizwan, and Umar Akmal.
"All these players came young and they developed. It's not true that departments take ready-made players, as Umar Akmal played for SNGPL even though he hadn't played a single match of regional cricket for Lahore," he said.
Misbah said that he and the departments will try to develop players for Pakistan and give them chances.
It is worth mentioning here that 16 Regional Cricket Associations will now participate in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and eight departments will compete in the Patron's Trophy during the 2023-24 season, beginning in August.
In addition to these tournaments, Grade-II, 50-over, and 20-over events will also be organised for the regional and departmental side during the 2023-24 domestic cricket season, details of which will be announced in due course.
The Departments/Services Organisation, Regions, and District/Zonal Cricket Associations were replaced by the six Cricket and 90 City Cricket Associations in the PCB Constitution 2019, which was repealed in December 2022.
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