Quick facts check: Auction's coming up March 11-12 in London. 14 Pakistani players on the men's longlist—Haris Rauf as the big marquee at £100,000 reserve ~ 37,242,000/- PKR estimate, alongside likes of Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Tariq in the top tier. Full list: Saim Ayub, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Zaman Khan, Usama Mir, Imad Wasim, Akif Javed, Salman Mirza. Bowling dominant again—our pacers and spinners are still the draw. Third highest overseas contingent, solid on paper.
But no specialist batters. Saim Ayub's the nearest, but all-rounder mode. No Babar, no Rizwan, no Fakhar, no Sahibzada Farhan (who smashed it in the recent T20 World Cup but still missed out). Franchises picked on form, fit, availability. Whispers of politics with Indian-linked teams, sure, but the bigger red flag is performance gaps and how some guys are more about show than substance.
Look at the recent T20 World Cup 2026 mess—Pakistan's campaign flopped, players got fined by PCB (PKR 5 million each for underperformance, even standouts like Farhan caught in it). Babar's form was brutal: just 91 runs in the tournament at avg ~23, SR 112, dropped for do-or-die games. Powerplay SR historically low (86 across World Cups), technique questions, slow scoring. He slipped to No.4, sometimes didn't even bat early. That's not the anchor we need; that's a guy struggling to adapt to modern T20 demands.
And here's where it gets painful: instead of grinding in the nets, fixing techniques, boosting strike rates, or building team chemistry, too many players (and the culture around them) chase fanboy hype, airplane moves, no-look sixes for reels—these go viral, rack up likes from die-hard fans, but what do they achieve on the field? Nothing. They set the wrong example: that cricket's about trolling rivals, feeding "no-look fanboys" who cheer drama over runs/wickets, and prioritizing social media clout over actual skill development.
We're teaching young kids that flashy celebrations and boundary taunts matter more than consistent 140+ SR batting or death-over Yorkers under pressure. That's backwards. It distracts from the grind—hours in the gym, video analysis, handling failure quietly. When performance dips (like Babar's long slump, no T20I hundred since 2023, technique "gone for a toss" as some ex-players say), the fanboys still defend blindly, but the results don't lie. Teams like in The Hundred see the numbers, not the Instagram stories. They want match-winners, not meme-makers.
This ties right back to building our cricket economy and making it watchable. PSL's growing—8 teams now, big franchise fees, media rights booming—but to go global, we need substance over spectacle. Players creating real awareness should be through killer performances, classy interviews, sharing training insights, not cheap rival-baiting. Focus on cricket builds genuine fans worldwide who pay to watch skill, not drama.
Our bowlers might still get good Hundred bids (Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi look strong), but the lesson from this auction snub and recent flops is clear: prioritize the game. Fix the batting pipeline with hard work, not hype. Stop setting examples where fanboy love excuses poor form. Cricket's about runs, wickets, wins—not likes and no-look poses.
Time for our stars to lead by example on the field first. The rest follows. What do you think— which player needs to ditch the show and grind more? Let's talk real fixes in the comments! 🇵🇰🏏
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