New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS) Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has attributed his national team's downfall in Test cricket to the shutdown of departmental cricket. Azhar, who has led Pakistan in nine Tests and 31 ODIs, called departmental cricket a "nursery" for Pakistan's national sides and felt that "it's being pushed out."

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently axed two departments -- WAPDA and Sahir Associates -- from the 2026-27 domestic season, calling them out for their "inability to comply" with the new regulations. WAPDA has been one of Pakistan's oldest domestic sides, while Sahir Associates also did not accept the new terms the PCB set.

Azhar pointed out the ignorance of departmental cricket as a key reason for the national team's downfall. "Department cricket is a big need for Pakistan," Azhar told Cricinfo.

"It's contributed a lot to our cricket. We shut it down a few years ago, and my personal view is that the slide in Pakistan's international cricket right now has a lot to do with department cricket being shut down. After that, it took department cricket a long time to recover. It was the biggest nursery for Pakistan cricket, and today again it feels like it's being pushed out."

The former cricketer also hit out at the constant changes by the PCB in the working systems. "The first thing I'd do is to give any system we implement a few years. If you change every year, then you were either wrong last year, or you're wrong now. At the PCB, our problem is we're never wrong, but perhaps we're never right either, because when you change every year, it means there was a mistake.

"And we promise every year that this is the year we'll get more developed players coming through the system. But we're not getting that answer. Every year we change, and then we say, 'that season didn't go according to plan, but the next one will'."

Azhar was himself part of departmental cricket before he made his name on the international stage. He was among a few cricketers who made an appeal to then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to change his decision to remove departments in 2019. Imran was not persuaded, and the departments returned only in 2023 after the 1992 World Cup-winning captain was removed from the government.

"I was moulded in department cricket, as so many others have been," Azhar said.

"At times, no one in the regions used to pay us any heed whatsoever. But the departments gave us salaries and financial security, and stuck with us. It's very important in Pakistan's cultural and economic reality. Even the PKR 30-40,000 Grade 2 teams and smaller departments' pay is vital in our country. Otherwise, young players' parents won't let them play and will tell them to find proper jobs instead."

He stated that the desire to play cricket in Pakistan is not an issue, but the youngsters should get finances. "Desire to play is not a problem [in Pakistan]. In England and Australia, you have to do special programmes in schools and counties to tempt them into playing cricket. Here, they're playing; they just need to be able to give something back to their family when they're 18 or 20. It needs to be financially viable; we're not a rich, developed country.

"It's easy to say, reduce the teams in domestic cricket. But if you're not getting financially rewarded for it, how many kids will be able to afford to take up cricket? I've seen young players who had to leave Pakistan after department cricket was abolished here. They didn't see a future here."

--IANS

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