Following the team's rather dismal showing in New Zealand, and press reports of strife and infighting on the tour, heads were expected to roll, and roll they did. Javed Miandad, the coach assigned to mastermind Pakistan's rejuvenation till 2003, has been sacked in a rather abrupt manner. Nobody is really taken in by PCB Chairman, Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia's diplomatic assertion that the former master batsman's input and skill were much more valuable at the cricket headquarters than involvement in the field with the Pakistan team. Such 'honeyed' words were no doubt meant to soften the blow, for a hurtful blow it definitely was for Miandad, and nothing less.

Miandad's sacking obviously has come as a rude shock to many, because even during the New Zealand tour the Board and its chairman were solidly supporting him, while the senior professionals resented his being there, and made no bones about the fact either. Why, then, dump him now? Was he solely to blame for the setbacks on the field and the dissatisfaction off it?

Apparently, the Board is convinced that Miandad's share of blame in the defeats and in the resulting bad press is minimal. Hence, this 'kid gloves' treatment to soften the blow by retaining him in the Advisory Council.

So, the reason Miandad was sacked was not because he was under-performing but because the Board could no longer take the heat that the senior professionals were able to generate in their opposition to Miandad.

But Miandad, always a tenacious fighter, was not one to go before firing his own salvo. Visibly agitated by the allegations levelled against him regarding the team's lacklustre display, he countered that Pakistan had been depleted by injuries to key players. About his coaching capabilities, he said, "a coach's job is out of the field, what the players do on it is beyond his domain." He thought that the national press was also responsible for this state of affairs: "Why is it not pointed out that so many of the seniors have not performed for such a long while and yet are in the team?" he asked, at the post tour press conference.

This last part of the statement was a clear indictment of the senior pros, the 'superstars', with whom Miandad has an issue since his second sacking as skipper in 1993 and who in his view were not paying heed to his instructions and were consistent only in their repeated failures. Miandad's premature exit has greatly jeopardised Pakistan's preparations for the 2003 World Cup, and the PCB's about-face on him casts some doubt on the Board's other long-term plans, policies and strategies.

Miandad's one shortcoming must be acknowledged: he is not good at man management. Twice he was sacked as skipper, and now twice in two years he has been shown the door as coach, with the Board ending up losing face on both occasions.

That said, the problem for Pakistan cricket remains the same as it was in the '70s, with the emergence of the 'superstars': can the Board stand up to overwhelming 'player power' and also cope with (and survive) the strident criticism accompanying the humiliating defeats suffered by their makeshift substitutes. The PCB Chairman the other day was unequivocal in saying that examples would have to be made to improve discipline. That is tough talk, but the big question is, when? Unless this nagging issue is resolved soon, when all the other cricket-playing nations are pressing on, full steam ahead, in their preparations for the World Cup, lest it be too late.

To his fans it seems a sad way to go for a truly great cricketer and a colourful character, who had immeasurably enriched Pakistan and world cricket. But is it really the end for Miandad? In the past, the pugnacious 'street fighter' had managed to stage a comeback after a similar setback. So, is this really his swan song? Many had written his epitaph, but every time he rose from the ashes very much like the proverbial phoenix.

So, only time will tell whether he resurrects himself once again.

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