Misplaced anger at poor show.

PRIME MINISTER Imran Khan must have been filled with envy watching the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States, given the former has publicly and repeatedly stated he fancies the US presidential system.

Mr Khan has told media interviewers how he is hamstrung by the rules that mandate he has to give a certain number of cabinet positions to elected members of parliament when he would clearly prefer to name experts to run the various ministries like the US president.

After emerging victorious in the November election, Joe Biden started to receive briefings on issues, ranging from the most immediate Covid threat, to a pandemic-hit economy, to immigration, defence, healthcare and other areas his administration would need to take immediate decisions on.

This too might have evoked envy. The prime minister said the US presidents get so much time to prepare (two and a half months between election and inauguration) and are fully briefed across issues when they assume power.

In the UK, when a party is elected to office after being in the opposition, its leader takes over as prime minister seamlessly.

By contrast, Khan conceded, he was uninformed about key policy areas when he took office and was still struggling and learning after two and a half years - half of his term - at the helm. Is he suggesting this has had an impact on his governance?

Perhaps, he misses the elbow room, the informed decision-making that enabled him to lead his team to the 1992 Cricket World Cup win in what he said was 'the twilight of my career'.

He had the freedom then to win the biggest prize in the cricketing world because he knew the game intricately, handpicked his team for the tournament; inspired his players with his 'cornered tiger' analogy when it looked like they may crash out of the tournament in the group stage.

His pep talk worked and after losing their first four out of five group matches, they won three in a row to edge past Australia into the semis. Their second win against giant slayers New Zealand in the semis after the group match, propelled them into the final. The rest is history.

The Pakistan team had his leadership and personal performance. But he also had the cricketing counsel of Javed Miandad by his side and he had ace performers like Inzamamul Haq and Waseem Akram and others such as Mushtaq Ahmad, Rameez Raja and Moin Khan delivering at key moments.

Pakistan still has his leadership but is waiting to see his performance...