Pakistan cricket is on the ropes yet again, and this time, even attracting sponsors for the men's national team could become a challenge for the powers that be after the abysmal outing in the Champions Trophy. Traditional rivals India thrashed Pakistan by six wickets in their match in Dubai on Sunday, pushing the tournament hosts on the brink of elimination. One day before India delivered a knockout blow to the team, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials were brimming with confidence following a fantastic turnout at the Gaddafi Stadium for the Australia-England match. "It was an uplifting experience to see people respond and enjoy a match not involving Pakistan," a board official said.
"But now, the challenge is to ensure the crowds keep on coming for the remaining matches in Pakistan, because we are hosting such a big event after 29 years," he conceded.
The eight-team Champions Trophy is the first ICC event in Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup and there were expectations that the home team would have a good outing.
A New Zealand victory on Monday means both Bangladesh and Pakistan are out of the tournament.
A reliable source close to the board's commercial wing said that financially the PCB will not take a big hit even if Pakistan does not feature in the semi-finals as only the gate receipts and other avenues of ground income would be affected.
But the brand value of the beleaguered team is set to take a hit.
"We are guaranteed hosting fees, our share of ICC revenues including ticket sales, but there are other issues like people losing interest in the mega event, broadcasters showing half filled stadiums etc. And the biggest worry is despite the craze for cricket here, it may not be easy to sell Pakistan cricket as a brand in future," he said.
The defeat to India has seen fans and critics not even sparing the chairman of the board, Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the federal interior minister and is known to have the complete backing of the establishment.
While most of the former players might have avoided taking the chairman to the cleaners, there are still plenty of critics on social media and on YouTube who believe Naqvi is responsible for his choice of selectors and captain.
"His focus appeared to be on just the upgrade of the stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi whereas he forgot that the most important thing was to have a team that could make it to the final in the Champions Trophy because fans relate to performances," the source said.
Notwithstanding the team's disappointing show, the PCB has done its best to make the Champions Trophy a successful event by showing its hospitality and providing the best security arrangements and facilities to the touring teams and officials.
The approximately 1.8 billion rupees spent on upgrading the stadiums is also something that will help Pakistan cricket but marketing advertising professional Tahir Reza believes that the biggest challenge is to keep fans connected with the team.
"It's easy to say cricket sells itself in Pakistan but that is not the case because the interest and attachment of fans, sponsors, advertisers, broadcasters is all linked to the performances as well," Tahir said.
He pointed out that already the overall budget in Pakistan for sponsorships, advertisements and endorsements was pretty limited, so companies tend to want the best value for their investments.
"If the team does not perform, and that too in a high-profile event like the CT, the sponsor wouldn't hesitate to invest his money in other public interest domains like music, entertainment, other sports etc." With the 10th edition of the Pakistan Super League coming up, Tahir believed the event will show how much of a negative impact the team's poor show in the Champions Trophy had on the money market.