Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has directly blamed his country’s precipitous drop in Test cricket on the elimination of department cricket in 2019, claiming that the shutdown destroyed the most vital development pathway for the national team.
Pakistan has lost 13 of its past 18 Tests and is presently ranked eighth in the nine-team World Test Championship. In the previous World Cup cycle, Pakistan finished last in the standings.
Azhar Ali stated that the department system has been the backbone of Pakistan cricket since departmental teams first competed in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in the 1953-54 season, with its importance expanding significantly throughout the 1970s.
The shutdown occurred in 2019 as part of an internal reform effort led by then-Prime Minister Imran Khan. Ali met with Khan in 2020 to plead his case against abolition, but he was unable to alter the decision.
Department cricket returned to the domestic structure for the 2023-24 season following a four-year absence. However, the PCB eliminated two departments for the 2026-27 season, WAPDA and Sahir Associates, alleging their failure to comply with new standards, which included a threefold increase in the participation cost from the previous level.
Khan Research Laboratories, the department Azhar Ali represented throughout his career, considered pulling out before committing to the season. The 2023-24 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was contested by eight regional teams, with departments competing separately.
Why does Azhar Ali believe department cricket is important for Pakistan?
Azhar Ali has consistently stated that the financial realities affecting young cricketers in Pakistan are the primary reason department cricket cannot be replaced solely by regional systems.
Salaried employment thru departments, he believes, allows families to encourage a child’s cricketing dreams rather than directing them to traditional jobs. He also made a parallel with wealthy cricket nations to make his point:
How has the shutdown affected Pakistan’s on-field performance?
Beyond finances, Azhar Ali claims that the departure of veteran department workers from the local circuit has disrupted the chain of information transfer between generations of players, which no coaching staff can entirely recreate.
He also urged the PCB to commit to the domestic structure it chooses rather than revamping it every year.
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