State of affair in Pakistan cricket is really sad: Miandad
Karachi (PTI): Batting great Javed Miandad has lamented the way cricket is being run in the country, saying frequent appointments and changes in the Pakistan team has shaken the confidence of the players.
"I have not seen cricket governance anywhere in the world like we see in Pakistan and these state of affairs are really sad," Miandad told media during a ceremony held here to launch the Sindh Premier League.
The former Pakistan skipper, who appeared in 124 Tests, said the governance of cricket in recent times had a bad effect on the team and players as well.
"I don't think anywhere such frequent appointments and changes in cricket are made and it only means that we don't have continuity in our cricket structure and more importantly the players don't gain confidence," he said.
There has been a string of appointments in Pakistan cricket following the ODI World Cup with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood named as T20I and Test captains respectively after Babar Azam stepped down from all formats.
Mohammad Hafeez too was appointed as director of cricket after the World Cup in India.
Miandad said Pakistan was slowly falling behind other teams because of the way sport was being run in the country by the cricket board.
"Since last year we have had a really bad time in terms of our team's performances and people who have no knowledge of cricket sit and take decisions which affect the entire structure in the country," he complained.
Pakistan team has recently lost the three-Test series against Australia 0-3, before going down 1-4 in the five-match T20 series against New Zealand.
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AI, IndiGo, SpiceJet seek ATF price relief; say airline industry on verge of 'stopping operations'
Mumbai (PTI): Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet have told the government that the country's airline industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of "stopping operations", as they sought revision in ATF pricing and financial support.
The West Asia turmoil has pushed up oil prices, and airspace restrictions have increased airlines' operating costs, especially on long-haul routes. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for around 40 per cent of a carrier's operational expenses.
Against this backdrop, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has written to the civil aviation ministry, seeking steps to extend the same fuel pricing mechanism uniformly across both domestic and international operations as was done in the past with the establishment of the crack band.
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With an unprecedented rise in jet fuel prices and exorbitant crack/differential between crude and ATF, the federation said the operation of airlines is being challenged in totality.
"... any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in unsurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the federation, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, said.
"In order to survive, sustain and continue operation, we request your urgent intervention for immediate and meaningful financial support to tide over the current situation," it said in a letter on April 26.
Also, the airlines have sought temporary deferment of excise duty on ATF, which is at 11 per cent.
"With the abnormal increase in ATF prices from the pre-crisis period, adding rupee depreciation to the increased prices, the 11 per cent excise duty also increases manifold for the airlines and adds to the ATF price as a big impact on airlines," they said.
Last month, the government limited the hike in ATF price to Rs 15 per litre for domestic operations, but for international operations, the price rose by Rs 73 per litre.
The airlines said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.
Seeking urgent intervention on the current ATF ad hoc pricing, FIA said the current situation is creating a severe imbalance in domestic and international operations and rendering airline networks unviable and unsustainable.
"The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations."
The federation has pitched for a transparent pricing framework under the crack band mechanism (USD 12–22/BBL) that was implemented in October 2022, saying there was a fair and reasonable margin for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
According to FIA, the country's largest aviation hub Delhi has the second-highest value-added tax (VAT) of 25 per cent on jet fuel, while the highest rate is 29 per cent levied in Tamil Nadu.
"The other major aviation cities, viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata range between 16 per cent and 20 per cent. These 6 cities cover more than 50 per cent of airlines' operations within India," the federation said.
