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The Pakistan Cricket Board cannot be absolved of its share in creating chaos and confusion by portraying the team members as villains in a depressing scenario.

The PCB mischievously released selected portions of manager Fakir Aizazuddin's 30-page report to show that senior players and coach Javed Miandad are responsible for the entire crisis and for the team's poor performance in New Zealand.

The manager's report, as such, reveals nothing new but only confirms media reports which have highlighted in the recent past the growing resentment in the dressing room because of Miandad.

Not surprisingly, each time the chairman of the PCB, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, denied the stories and came out to defend Miandad by threatening the players with dire consequences if they went against the former captain.

But now the publication of the manager's report confirms apprehensions that the PCB are looking for ways to show Miandad the door after having announced him as coach until the 2003 World Cup.

The PCB on Sunday reacted with surprise and disappointment to the release of Aizazuddin's report. The general told reporters that he would investigate the issue and inquire from the manager how the confidential document was leaked out.

But to put the records straight, although Aizazuddin is due to arrive here on Monday with the Pakistan team, his report had reached the cricket headquarters in Lahore on March 27. Dr Nauman Niaz, who toured with the team as cricket analyst, had brought the document with him after his visit was abruptly cut short by the PCB.

No matter what investigations the PCB would conduct now, the cat is out of the bag. It will surely create a lot of problems for the top hierarchy of the PCB which is severely criticized for creating a situation of uncertainty in the team and conspiring against certain individuals.

While Aizazuddin's report confirms the unprofessional and uncompromising attitude of Wasim Akram, it also endorses the fact that interference by some PCB officials in selectorial matters has irked skipper Moin Khan.

Sikander Bakht's resignation two months after Iqbal Qasim and Ehteshamuddin were sacked establishes further the point that the PCB had been repeatedly entering the out-of-bound area.

Instead of wasting their energies in finding the culprit who released the manager's report, the PCB would be well advised to inquire about who is the PCB official who is putting his foot down in team selections.

People associated with the game have no hesitation in pointing fingers at former captain and member of advisory panel Ramiz Raja. They believe that he influences the decision-makers in sending players of his choice, as it is evident from the departures of Arshad Khan and Mohammad Akram. They support their argument by saying that both the players play for Raja's Allied Bank and are always on tours, whether they are required or not.

Arshad Khan carried the towels in all the three Tests in New Zealand while Akram played at Hamilton where on a seamer-friendly pitch he had figures of 22-1-106-0.

Ijaz Ahmad was recalled after being thrown in the wilderness in July despite having poor scores of 1, 1 and five in three first-class innings he played in the entire 2000-01 domestic season. His performance was not unexpected in the Tests as he scored 32 runs in three Test innings.

There's no need to say that the arrival of the three players when they were not required unsettled the team, besides imbalancing it as they were virtually left with limited options to choose from.

Pakistan cricket has never been in such doldrums in the past. It is fast reaching a point of no-return and may soon end up with the same fate as of the once invincible West Indies who are now the whipping boys of cricket.

Instead of blaming the players and humiliating them in public, the PCB officials should have the guts and morale courage to admit that they made the costly decisions which have left Pakistan's cricket future at a knife's edge.

Moreover, it will be a test of PCB character if it releases the entire Aizazuddin's report like it did last year while publicizing Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's report. The followers of the game deserve the right to know the other observations of the managers besides its analysis of the players on tour.

© Dawn