While Pakistan look to stave off a first series defeat against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, much of the PCB’s focus has been 300 km south in Lahore. Having announced five mentors for the Champions Cup, an upcoming series of domestic tournaments which begin with a one-day competition from September 12, the PCB lined them up for press conferences to outline their vision, and, to some extent, clarify their roles.
“The vision is to reduce the gap between domestic and international cricket. I feel it and players feel it too. When I came to the international side, it took three to four years to believe that I belonged to international cricket. The vision of the mentors is to prepare the players to raise them to that level, so they adjust with it. This requires a lot of hard work, and it will only happen if we do it.”
“As a mentor, my role goes beyond just providing guidance from the dugout,” Malik, affiliated with the Stallions, said in a statement released by the PCB. “I will also take to the field in select matches to impart my first-hand knowledge and experience. This will enable our upcoming cricketers to refine their skills and elevate their game, ultimately supporting the Pakistan Cricket Board’s efforts to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket.”
Though the teams don’t have geographic affiliation, Malik’s pairing with Stallions is symbolic, given his success as captain of the Sialkot Stallions in the mid-2000s. Malik created one of the first successful T20 dynasties, leading his side to five successive domestic titles in the days before the PSL. To a lesser degree, so is Misbah’s with Wolves, the former Pakistan captain a key player in the successful Faisalabad Wolves sides of the early 2000s.
The mentor roles have come under scrutiny not least for the salaries involved. Each of the five is believed to be on three-year contracts, earning in the range of PKR 5 million (approx. USD 18,000) per month. Those salaries have raised eyebrows because they are higher than what is paid to all but the most elite Pakistani cricketers – the category A players, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan, in the central contracts pool. The Champions Cup has yet to announce a tangible commercial inflow. A broadcaster has not been announced either. The PCB has advertised for team partners/sponsors to come in but has not yet said whether any have come on board.
The roles are separate from coaching – each side will have a separate yet-to-be-announced coaching set-up – and do not require coaching qualifications. Three of the five mentors have served as Pakistan’s head coach in the recent past and the PCB has not made public what metrics the mentors will be evaluated by, or why they believe the outlay will offer a return on investment. In a statement to ESPNcricinfo, the PCB said that it “as a responsible organisation, never discusses in public salaries of its staffers and consultants, which remain a matter between the employer and the employee”.
The Lahore and Karachi stadiums are currently undergoing significant renovation, with minor upgrades scheduled for Rawalpindi as well, the cost for which is understood to run into billions of Pakistan rupees. This lines up with a generally heavy spend rate since Mohsin Naqvi assumed the PCB chair, which has coincided with annual revenues from the ICC that have doubled in this international rights cycle, thanks to the global body’s new deal with Disney-Star. However, there will invariably be concern around whether the spend rate is sustainable, especially because the PCB does not receive any public money for its operations.
“I have told the PCB our job is not to save money or keep it hoarded away, but to spend it on cricket, from grassroots right through to the national team,” Naqvi said in March, addressing the Pakistan players. “The money will be spent on your fitness, training and coaches rather than keeping it locked away.”
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
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