Azhar Ali, a former captain of Pakistan, has directly linked the country’s precipitous slide in Test cricket to the 2019 department cricket closure, claiming that it destroyed the most crucial avenue for the national team’s growth. Pakistan is now ranked ninth in the nine-team World Test Championship standings after losing 13 of their previous 18 Test matches. Pakistan placed last in the previous WTC cycle.
According to Azhar Ali, the department system has been the foundation of Pakistani cricket since departmental teams participated in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the first time in the 1953–54 season, and their significance increased significantly during the 1970s. As part of a domestic overhaul spearheaded by then-prime minister Imran Khan, the shutdown occurred in 2019. Ali met with Khan in 2020 to argue against abolition, but he was unable to change the ruling.
After a four-year hiatus, department cricket was reintegrated into the domestic framework for the 2023–2024 season. WAPDA and Sahir Associates, however, were eliminated by the PCB for the 2026–2027 season due to their inability to comply with new rules, which included a three-fold increase in the participation cost.
Azhar Ali department throughout his career, Khan Research Laboratories, was on the verge of pulling out before deciding to commit to the season. Eight regional teams competed in the 2023–24 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, while departments participated in a different competition that ran concurrently.
Why does Azhar Ali think department cricket is crucial for Pakistan?
Azhar Ali has repeatedly stated that department cricket cannot be replaced by regional institutions alone due to the financial realities faced by young cricket players in Pakistan. He contends that rather than pushing children toward traditional jobs, salaried employment thru departments allows families to support a child’s cricketing aspirations. To emphasise his point, he further contrasted it with wealthy cricketing nations:
What effect has the shutdown had on Pakistan’s performance on the pitch?
Beyond money, Azhar Ali contends that no coaching staff can completely replace the cycle of information transfer between generations of players, which has been disrupted by the departure of seasoned department experts from the local circuit.
Additionally, he urged the PCB to stick to the domestic structure of its choice instead of changing it every year.
