Has Mohsin Naqvi met his match?

In her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath wrote what is perhaps one of the most widely quoted passages from modern literature: the fig tree analogy. In the space of less than 200 words she captures the paralyzing weight of choice. 

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America … and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”

If Mohsin Naqvi were sitting on that tree, he would be gorging himself sick. One can imagine him crouched in the branches, fig sap dripping as he grabs and stuffs fig after fig into his mouth, not caring for the stains they leave on his pearly white shalwar kameez. There dangles one fig that was a media empire which Naqvi downs with a glow. He pounces towards the fig that makes him Chief Minister of Punjab. The reign of terror on the unsuspecting fig tree is far from over. The old figs only halfway down his gullet, he swipes his hand to grab an entire bunch, ripping off the branch and eating the figs for federal minister, senator, and PCB chairman all at once.

Indecision, it seems, does not plague Mohsin Naqvi. In the past few years he has juggled many hats. He was tapped as Chief Minister of Punjab in a caretaker capacity after constant fighting between Hamza Shehbaz and Pervez Elahi had immobilized the Punjab Assembly. His stint, traditionally supposed to be three months, ended up being longer than the combined tenures of Sharif and Elahi. Even before a new government was sworn in, he was told to clean up the mess at the Pakistan Cricket Board, once again as a consensus candidate. As soon as his tenure as Chief Minister ended, he was also made a senator and given the portfolio of interior and narcotics control. 

As interior minister and PCB Chairman, Mr Naqvi is the senior most civilian figure responsible for countering terrorism in Pakistan, and the highest cricket executive in the country responsible for turning Pakistani cricket around. We do not know which job is tougher, but it does seem like a lot to do for one person. Perhaps the government thought there is no greater terrorism on the Pakistani people than the antics of its cricket team on the field. 

His tenure at the PCB has been mixed. On the one hand he has positioned himself as a players’ chairman. Despite having no background in cricket he regularly hosts the team for dinners, drops by before games to give them encouragement, and by all accounts is very friendly with them. Profit profiled Mr Naqvi back in 2019 before he rose to national prominence. Even then, as the CEO of a media empire you could see this man was charming, genial, and had impeccable manners. But behind that exterior is a get-shit-done attitude that has clearly served him well. At the PCB, his warmth towards the players has not stopped him from making major reshuffles and even cancelling NOCs for players to go play franchise cricket in Australia. He has also stood up to the hegemony of Indian Cricket with a dramatic flair you do not really see in the stoic world of cricket. 

Perhaps nothing will shape his legacy more than the chaotic week that just ended. In the span of 48 hours Mohsin Naqvi’s PCB announced it would add two more teams to the HBL PSL, was expanding the tournament to six venues, and appointed incumbent test captain Shaan Masood to an executive role at the board where (it looks like?) he might be responsible for negotiating his own contract as well as those of his fellow players. Then there was the little matter of terminating the contract of the Multan Sultans, the HBL PSL’s newest and most expensive franchise. The reason behind the termination was a campaign by the team’s owner, Ali Tareen, in which he raised concerns over how the HBL PSL was being run. Mr Tareen had been running the podcast and interviews circuit giving his opinion on why he thinks the HBL PSL has been slipping, and giving his suggestions for what needs to change. 

That, it seems, has rubbed the PCB the wrong way. They issued a legal notice to Tareen and said they were suspending his ownership of the team, and threatening to blacklist him from owning an HBL PSL team again. 

Realistically speaking the fiasco will not do much harm to Ali Tareen. If anything, being blacklisted might end up saving him a lot of money. At the 10 year mark of the HBL PSL, all of the tournament’s franchises are up for rebidding. As per the team contracts, each franchise owner will have the chance to rebid for their team. They will have to pay a new franchise fee which will depend on what an independent evaluator determines that team’s value is. At the very least the existing owners will have to pay a 25% markup unless the new valuation is higher. This has been an issue that has simmered in the background of the HBL PSL for some time now. The blow-up between Ali Tareen and the PCB is the first public battle around this subject. 

The fact that it is being fought over petty instances and matters of personal taste is only appropriate because this is, after all, the theatre of the absurd known as Pakistan Cricket. What does make it significant, however, is that it marks the first real challenge for Mohsin Naqvi. Ever since he became PCB Chairman he has run the board with complete confidence and control. The fact that he has been able to sit and even consult with former constantly bickering chairmen Najam Sethi, Ramiz Raja, and Zaka Ashraf in the same room shows that Mr Naqvi knows he is not going anywhere. He has a mandate to run the board and he has the political power to back it up. 

But Ali Tareen offers a new kind of opposition. Oxford graduate, philanthropist, farmer, sugar baron, and most importantly a rich kid, Ali Tareen can throw his weight around. His family is also politically influential and has been for much longer than Mohsin Naqvi. While Mr Naqvi is enjoying a particularly good run of form (to borrow poorly from a sporting term), Mr Tareen has what can in these pages only be called f-you money. 

For the past seven years, he has been running consistent losses to maintain ownership of the Multan Sultans. Part of the reason he has been running these losses is the way the HBL PSL is structured. The other reason is his love for the game. To Ali Tareen, staying closely involved in cricket is well worth the money, which is why fighting this fight is well worth his time. Nowhere is this exemplified more than in the sarcastic “apology video” he posted in the aftermath of the PCB’s announcement, where he diligently tears up the legal notice on camera. The only question: exactly how much will this hurt the HBL PSL?