Mazher Arshad

Early life and background

Arshad said that he wanted to become a cricketer, but gradually realised that not everyone can reach that position. He wrote about cricket from childhood, including keeping scorecards of matches as they were played. He recalled the 1999 World Cup from his childhood as an exciting time. He was also very keen on hockey and watched five matches from the ground at the 2004 Champions Trophy. [1]

Career

Arshad moved to Facebook, then Twitter, and gradually into mainstream media, and wrote for Cricinfo. He had his own website, which he built with a company in Islamabad. In 2013 he covered a Pakistan versus South Africa Test match in Cape Town for a website. [1]

His first assignment as a statistician was the Test match between Pakistan and South Africa in Abu Dhabi in 2013. He describes himself as a freelancer who is not with any TV channel. By 2015 he had covered cricket in Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, but never an international match in Pakistan. He has said that he used to be a huge cricket fan but no longer has the time to follow the game closely. [1]

Statistical work

Arshad said his data comes from his own database and from several companies, some of them subscription based. He said his data work combines three or four databases, and that Microsoft Access and Excel play a major role in it. He said data work once meant searching through books, which was hard, and that software has since made it easier. [1]

He said the core of his work is knowing what could happen in a match, combined with technique. He said some of his data is prepared in advance and some is generated on the spot. Before a match, he prepared a list of batsmen who had scored three consecutive centuries. [1]

Views on technology and fitness in Pakistan cricket

Arshad said Pakistan is not yet using technology in cricket the way the rest of the world does. He said analysts tell batsmen what a bowler is likely to bowl next after conceding a boundary, and that other teams fit players with body-worn gadgets that report distance covered and heart rate. He said Pakistan's new chief selector and the cricket committee recommended bringing data and science into cricket, and he is hopeful that the next one or two years will bring far more visible change in cricket technology. [1]

He said that three players in the England team that won the 2019 World Cup were not fully fit. He said Pakistan's fitness levels, in cricket as well, lag behind the rest of the world, and that fitness work must start at grassroots and under-19 level. [1]

Views on the PSL 6 suspension

Arshad said the PSL 6 suspension is a perfect reflection of society as a whole. He said it would be wrong to blame any single person, although some clear mistakes were made. He said PCB's medical department had been under scrutiny for a long time. He noted that PCB recently hosted a long domestic season, series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the PSL playoffs. He said PCB may have grown complacent and that its medical department should be updated. [1]

He said symptoms do not show within three days. He said PCB offered vaccines to players and support staff during the tournament, and that many Pakistan players had already been vaccinated. He said vaccinated people should still follow SOPs, because it is not yet known what happens after vaccination. He expected the situation to improve by June or July. [1]

He said PCB and the franchises will all try to resume PSL 6 immediately. He said an immediate restart looks unrealistic, because players who had just left would be hard to bring back. He described a June window after the IPL, with a strict quarantine, as an option for resuming PSL. [1]

Views on the Pakistan Super League

Arshad said PSL is the second biggest league in the world, after the IPL, in his view, and in some respects the second highest-paying league after the IPL. He said Pakistan has the second largest cricket audience in the world, after India. He said he watched PSL matches regularly, that 50 to 60 percent of the TV audience was watching PSL on a typical day, and that about 90 percent of the TV audience watched the 2018 final between Islamabad and Peshawar. [1]

He said PSL has not reached its potential because Pakistan has not adopted a satellite TV subscription model. He said the 2019 PSL TV rights sold for about 36 million dollars over three years, around 12 million a year, and that title sponsorship brings in about four to five million. He said PCB receives about 15 million dollars a year in franchise fees, and that TV rights, title sponsorship and tickets form a pool shared equally between PCB and the franchises. He said Multan's franchise cost 6 million dollars a year, against 1.1 million for Quetta. [1]

He said the government does not fund PCB, which generates its own money. He said PCB's account used to hold four or five arab rupees, and PSL franchise fees now bring in two or three arab rupees. He said Pakistan has not played a series against India in about 15 years, yet PCB is thriving, and that Pakistan last hosted India in 2005 or 2006. He said he does not know the current franchise positions, but has heard rumours that two or three are above break-even. [1]

He said this was only the second PSL season held fully in Pakistan, earlier ones having been in the UAE. He said PSL offered players contracts of 200,000 US dollars until last year, that a PSL season has about 10 group matches and ends within a month, and that PSL offers players a return he has not seen in any other league. He said two PSL matches pay a player about 30 lakh rupees, while a player earns about 30 to 40 lakh rupees over three or four months of domestic cricket. He suggested that PSL should provide a subsidy so that five or six of the best marquee players in the world can be brought in. [1]

Arshad said every PSL team is required to field an emerging player in every match, and that each PSL team now has 10 to 15 local players. He said PSL's audience is bigger than that of Pakistan's international matches, and that an average cricketer playing for a PSL franchise can be watched around the world. He said a PSL song reached three or four million views within a few days. [1]

He said PSL home matches are not being held the way they should be, which is a major reason for weak fan associations. He said the Islamabad team should play home matches in Islamabad or Rawalpindi, and the Peshawar team in Peshawar, and that each PSL team should play its matches on its own home ground. He estimated it will take four or five years to build the strong association he describes. [1]

Views on formats and domestic cricket

Arshad said Australia, England, India and, to some extent, New Zealand form the top tier of cricket. He placed Pakistan in the second tier with South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the West Indies. He said Pakistan were recently number one in Test cricket and T20, and won the ODI Champions Trophy. He said Pakistan's T20 team has full potential and could be number one and win the T20 World Cup if it learns to use data and science, and that New Zealand should be Pakistan's role model because it maximises its resources. [1]

He said Pakistan's Test team will not improve until money is invested in first-class cricket. He said the best pitches he has seen in Pakistan came this season. He thinks six teams is too few and that Pakistan may need eight or ten, and he proposed first-class teams in Lahore, Karachi and eight to ten other major cities that produce talent. He said the PSL city-team model works, and first-class cricket should follow it. [1]

He said Test cricket is increasingly a luxury and no longer has the importance it once had. He said broadcasting Test cricket costs far more than T20 in air time, production and player salaries, and that boards could cancel one Test to play two T20 matches, because T20 earns more money. He said the world is moving toward T20 cricket, which fans want. [1]

He said T20 cricket is crowd and audience friendly, so people with little interest in cricket still watch PSL, and that it is a format that is easy to pick up and learn. He said Afghanistan's team was almost unknown 10 to 15 years ago. He said that if cricket became an Olympic sport, the whole world would invest in it. [1]

Arshad said a batsman's target should be winning matches, not personal milestones. He said coaches and selectors judge batsmen by who scores the most runs, which he sees as a flaw. [1]

Views on cricket in Pakistan

Arshad said there was no ban, but security meant cricket was not being played in Pakistan. He said foreign commentators who came to Pakistan often did not want to leave, and that Pakistan fans often outnumber England supporters at matches in England. He said cricket has a very bright future in Pakistan because of the passion there, and that Pakistan is generating money from T20 cricket and the PSL. [1]

He said the dream of becoming a cricketer has far better odds today than in the 1990s. He said a lot of money is involved in cricket, and that India is now a very large cricket market with heavy sponsorship. [1]

Views on Pakistan hockey

Arshad said Pakistan hockey no longer qualifies for the Olympics or the World Cup. He said Pakistan hockey fell far behind after the move to artificial turf and rule changes. [1]

Timeline

1999

Recalled the World Cup of that year from his childhood as an exciting time.[1]

2004

Watched five matches from the ground at the hockey Champions Trophy.[1]

2013

Covered a Pakistan versus South Africa Test match in Cape Town for a website.[1]

2013

First assignment as a statistician, the Test match between Pakistan and South Africa in Abu Dhabi.[1]

2015

By this year had covered cricket in Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, but not an international match in Pakistan.[1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. The real economics behind Pakistan's cricket league . Thought Behind Things , 2021-03-15.