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A full-fledged operation, not surgery, is the only hope for the survival of Pakistan cricket
In the last year and a half, Pakistan cricket has witnessed an unreal downfall. First, the team witnessed an ignominious exit in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, then came the humiliation at the hands of an amateur USA team in the T20 World Cup 2024. And now the Pakistan team can’t even save face at home. After the historic drubbing in Tests against a struggling Bangladesh side, the Pakistan team has decided to further its new-found tradition of capitulation at home by tailoring an incomprehensible batting debacle against England in Multan on one of the flattest pitches in the history of Test cricket.
So the big question is, what exactly has brought up this unreal downfall?
THE DIAGNOSIS
* Mental brittleness and the loser mentality
Incessant fear of failure is the biggest indication of this mentality. And teams plagued with this trauma play to save themselves from the impending disaster instead of endeavoring for glory.
The change in fortunes of Pakistan cricket has been swift and unbelievable. Not long ago, the Pakistan team was reckoned as one of the most resilient teams in the realm of cricket. And terms like “cornered tigers,” “the unpredictables and “resurgents” were liberally used for them. Even Nasser Hussain’s famous one-liner statement, “One minute down; next minute up,” became a depiction of their character. But now, with their awful performances, they have diminished their fear factor and emboldened even minnow oppositions to display spirited performances against them. The drubbing at hand of the USA team in the T20 World Cup and a depleted New Zealand side at home are glaring examples of it. Even more disturbing is their new habit of total capitulation in tests, especially in their 2nd innings, no matter what the circumstances. Thus, the mental brittleness of Pakistani players is a quite alarming concern.
* The run-leaking pace factory:
The once feared and awe-inspiring pace factory has now turned into a run-leaking machine. From Mohammad Amir’s epic failure in the Super over against the USA to Pakistan’s’ ignominous centuries with the ball in the first Test against England. Pakistan pace attack has become the holder of such undesirable records. Notably, all these abrupt changes in bowling fortunes have occurred to Pakistan pacers after returning from their respective injuries; in contrast, the return from injury inspired a new life into the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah.
* Degeneration of seniors into liability:
Seniors are generally a boon for any team, but the case is quite opposite for Pakistan, where seniors, instead of leading from the front, just reel into the background in crunch situations. Babar Azam, the former Pakistan captain who is currently on an 18-inning half-century drought in Tests, is a prime example of it. Besides Babar, other senior players like Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, and Shaheen Afridi have also emerged as a big liability for the national side. For instance, seasoned campaigners like Mohammad Rizwan failed to score even 20 runs in both innings combined on a batting paradise like Multan in the first Test against England, where English batters were scoring runs for fun. Furthermore, the batting display from captain Shan Masood is also quite deplorable, especially in the 2nd Innings of the Tests. So how come the seniors ever held the junior players accountable when they themselves can’t ever rise up to the occasion? In fact, it is better to get rid of such “seniors” who add nothing to the side except extra pressure.
* Disturbing statistical report regarding patient’s health:
A medical report is one of the easiest ways to gauge one’s health. And Pakistan cricket’s recent performance report is anything but satisfactory, and the below stats are a manifestation of it. For instance:
I. Pakistan’s current opening pair in Test (Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub) have amassed just paltry 47 runs in their first 10 outings as a batting pair.
II. Pakistan’s premium batter and batting linchpin, Babar Azam, has not scored even a half-century in his last eight inning, let alone talk about the century drought.
III. The Pakistan team hasn’t won a T20I series at home since December 2021, and in Test series the situation is even worse as PCT hasn’t won any series on home turf since February 2021.
IV. The Pakistan team of late has been on a rampage of setting several embarrassing records, including Shan Masood losing his first six Tests as captain, Pakistan bowlers scoring centuries with the ball in the 1st inning against England in the first Test of the series, and losing a Test by an innings after scoring 500 plus in the first inning.
V. Also since the dawn of the Mohsin Naqvi administration, Pakistan cricket teams (men and women combined) have played 46 matches across formats and won just 11. This translates into a very low winning percentage of 23.91 percent, while the losing percent is staggering high at 69.56 percent.
* Weak immune (defense) system
Besides aggressive cricket, good defensive abilities are also essential for any world-class team. And this is the only shortcoming of Bazball too. Weak defense and flawed techniques have also been responsible for Pakistan’s utterly disappointing performances in 2024. Especially among batters who keep on falling prey to identical deliveries. Be it Babar Azam’s vulnerability to full-pitched outswingers, Mohammad Rizwan’s soft caught behind dismissals, Iftikhar Ahmed and Imam-ul-Haq’s weakness against short-pitched deliveries, or Abdullah Shafique’s regular early struggles and soft dismissals. And even in the bowling domain, things are not hunky-dory. Just recently, in a space of two months, Pakistan pacers have failed twice to defend any lead against the opposition, despite the team posting a hefty 400 plus first-inning totals. In fact, even more embarrassing is the fact that no Pakistan pacer has secured seven wickets in a Test Inning since 1996. So with such a debilitated defense or immune system, Pakistan cricket cannot prosper at all.
THE TREATMENT
* Replacing quacks with professionals:
There is a famous saying in different languages that the treatment by a quack is a threat to life. The same is happening with Pakistan cricket these days, where some unprofessional individuals have made the lives of Pakistan players and cricket miserable. The aggravation of injury to Ihsanullah as a result of mismanagement by Dr. Saleem is a prime example of it. Furthermore, some apprehensions have been raised before regarding the rehabilitation process of Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, and their awful performances post-injury just reinforce such notions. Even worse is the fact that the head of PCB is also a quack given his zero to little knowledge pertaining to cricket but still was adamant on a “major surgery” that turned out to be nothing but some cosmetic twitches, which also were reversed later.
* Desperate need of new blood:
For an ailing patient, new blood inspires new life and vigor in the body. The same is required for the betterment of Pakistan cricket, which desperately needs to provide chances to newcomers who are not only the future of Pakistan but also a perfect replacement for the aging youngsters. Also, a big advantage of affording chances to youngsters is that it provides an opportunity for seniors to take much-needed rest and manage their enormous workload. Thus, the recent decision to accord rest to senior players like Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen Shah Afridi was a very bold move by the new selection committee, and it bore fruit too, as the same side, who got mauled at Multan by England in the first Test, made a spectacular comeback in the second Test courtesy to top performances from the debutant Kamran Ghulam and new inductees into the playing XI like Sajid Khan and Noman Ali. Thus, there is great proof that PCT needs new blood in his team in the form of promising youngsters and long ignored top domestic performers as the agent of much-needed change.
* Purging the wounds:
Pakistan Cricket Team (PCT) fans have suffered badly of late, as earlier their team used to miss the glory by a whisker’s margin, but now they can’t even manage to go beyond group stage. As in 2024, for the first time in their T20 World Cup history, Pakistan failed to get past the group stage, and earlier in the 2023 ODI World Cup on subcontinent turf, they also crashed out miserably in the group stage. And in hindsight, it appears that PCB was the main protagonist in the recent downfall of Pakistan cricket, as it sowed the seeds of division with PCT with its abrupt change in captaincy. This phenomenon not only pitted players against each other but also affected their individual performances. Another big wound inflicted by PCB pertains to damage to players’ egos. The NOC declination saga involving multiple players like Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, and Usama Mir is a prime example of it. Even Fakhar Zaman recently minced no words in bringing up this issue directly before chairman PCB. And besides these unattended wounds, a major scar that persists pertains to invaluable talent drain. The departure of players like Imran Tahir, Hammad Azam, and Sami Aslam are just notable examples of it.
* Removing the cancer of nepotism and favoritism:
Nepotism and favoritism are two of the worst cancers plaguing Pakistan cricket. And unfortunately, this phenomenon is well entrenched in the PCB from top to bottom of its hierarchical pyramid. Unlike popular belief, the selection of players is not the only phenomenon that gets compromised because of it. This phenomenon also acts as an impediment in the appointment of the right persons to the right positions within the PCB framework, and this consequently leads to poor and inconsistent policy formulation. And this is a major reason that the current PCB bureaucracy is a product of favoritism. Usman Wahla and Junaid Zia are too notable examples of it, as one was the henchman of former PCB Chairman Najam Sethi and the other is the son of former PCB Chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia. Recently, Usman Wahla was in the limelight for his tussle with the players regarding NOC clearance and also was an instrumental figure behind the return of former PCB dissidents Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir. And the biggest tragedy is that meritocracy can never ever enter the ranks of PCB unless its chairman is a proper professional rather than a political appointee.
* Need of a balanced and stable selection committee:
Too many chickens spoil the broth, and the same is the case with Pakistan’s selection committee, which keeps on altering from time to time. The selection committee has been reconstituted only three times since the arrival of Mohsin Naqvi in PCB. The biggest downside of having a large and ever-changing selection committee is the inconsistency in players’ selection and performances, as was also mentioned recently by former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur. He said:
“The inconsistency around selection, environment, and administration plays a role in team morale; give the players structure, and they will perform.”
Additionally, a significant problem with large selection committees is that it often becomes easier for selectors to evade responsibility or shift blame onto others in this type of structure. And the worst has been the recent decision to completely detach the captain and the head coaches from the selection process by scrapping their voting power. And it stands among one of the most irrational decisions taken by PCB ever.
* Excessive use of steroids:
The catering of physical fitness of players under the aegis of a military camp, the reinduction of retired players who mock the domestic system into the side, furnishing big monetary incentives to players to ace a tournament, the organization of old domestic tournaments after rebranding, and the induction of an elite umpire in the selection committee are some of the fancy moves aimed at falsely presenting the ever-decling Pakistan cricket look stable.
* Recent miserable performances and the impending disaster in Champions Trophy 2025:
The recent poor performances have certainly dispelled any semblance of hope for the Pakistan fans, who now would just pray to God for sparing themselves from any further humiliation instead of expecting a title defense from their team at home. With just less than four months left in the mega event, the Pakistan team looks totally ill-prepared for the defense of their crown. But if PCT keep giving free rides to players like Shadab Khan and Imam-ul-Haq at the expense of top domestic performers like Sajid Khan and Kamran Ghulam, then PCT have already sealed their fate with another fiasco and disastrous tournament campaign.
Conclusion:
Pakistan cricket, no doubt, is on a ventilator, but this sick patient can be brought back to its knee. If PCB really applies the policy of meritocracy and does go forward with its much-awaited top-to-bottom purge in its bureaucratic hierarchy. Also, PCB needs to forego its total capitulation to player stardom while selecting players for the national squad. Instead, performance should be made the prime criterion for the selection. Thus for PCB, a pressing need persists to focus on the long-term policy formulation for the betterment of Pakistan cricket rather than just banking on random wins to bury their failures of the past.
In the last year and a half, Pakistan cricket has witnessed an unreal downfall. First, the team witnessed an ignominious exit in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, then came the humiliation at the hands of an amateur USA team in the T20 World Cup 2024. And now the Pakistan team can’t even save face at home. After the historic drubbing in Tests against a struggling Bangladesh side, the Pakistan team has decided to further its new-found tradition of capitulation at home by tailoring an incomprehensible batting debacle against England in Multan on one of the flattest pitches in the history of Test cricket.
So the big question is, what exactly has brought up this unreal downfall?
THE DIAGNOSIS
* Mental brittleness and the loser mentality
Incessant fear of failure is the biggest indication of this mentality. And teams plagued with this trauma play to save themselves from the impending disaster instead of endeavoring for glory.
The change in fortunes of Pakistan cricket has been swift and unbelievable. Not long ago, the Pakistan team was reckoned as one of the most resilient teams in the realm of cricket. And terms like “cornered tigers,” “the unpredictables and “resurgents” were liberally used for them. Even Nasser Hussain’s famous one-liner statement, “One minute down; next minute up,” became a depiction of their character. But now, with their awful performances, they have diminished their fear factor and emboldened even minnow oppositions to display spirited performances against them. The drubbing at hand of the USA team in the T20 World Cup and a depleted New Zealand side at home are glaring examples of it. Even more disturbing is their new habit of total capitulation in tests, especially in their 2nd innings, no matter what the circumstances. Thus, the mental brittleness of Pakistani players is a quite alarming concern.
* The run-leaking pace factory:
The once feared and awe-inspiring pace factory has now turned into a run-leaking machine. From Mohammad Amir’s epic failure in the Super over against the USA to Pakistan’s’ ignominous centuries with the ball in the first Test against England. Pakistan pace attack has become the holder of such undesirable records. Notably, all these abrupt changes in bowling fortunes have occurred to Pakistan pacers after returning from their respective injuries; in contrast, the return from injury inspired a new life into the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah.
* Degeneration of seniors into liability:
Seniors are generally a boon for any team, but the case is quite opposite for Pakistan, where seniors, instead of leading from the front, just reel into the background in crunch situations. Babar Azam, the former Pakistan captain who is currently on an 18-inning half-century drought in Tests, is a prime example of it. Besides Babar, other senior players like Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, and Shaheen Afridi have also emerged as a big liability for the national side. For instance, seasoned campaigners like Mohammad Rizwan failed to score even 20 runs in both innings combined on a batting paradise like Multan in the first Test against England, where English batters were scoring runs for fun. Furthermore, the batting display from captain Shan Masood is also quite deplorable, especially in the 2nd Innings of the Tests. So how come the seniors ever held the junior players accountable when they themselves can’t ever rise up to the occasion? In fact, it is better to get rid of such “seniors” who add nothing to the side except extra pressure.
* Disturbing statistical report regarding patient’s health:
A medical report is one of the easiest ways to gauge one’s health. And Pakistan cricket’s recent performance report is anything but satisfactory, and the below stats are a manifestation of it. For instance:
I. Pakistan’s current opening pair in Test (Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub) have amassed just paltry 47 runs in their first 10 outings as a batting pair.
II. Pakistan’s premium batter and batting linchpin, Babar Azam, has not scored even a half-century in his last eight inning, let alone talk about the century drought.
III. The Pakistan team hasn’t won a T20I series at home since December 2021, and in Test series the situation is even worse as PCT hasn’t won any series on home turf since February 2021.
IV. The Pakistan team of late has been on a rampage of setting several embarrassing records, including Shan Masood losing his first six Tests as captain, Pakistan bowlers scoring centuries with the ball in the 1st inning against England in the first Test of the series, and losing a Test by an innings after scoring 500 plus in the first inning.
V. Also since the dawn of the Mohsin Naqvi administration, Pakistan cricket teams (men and women combined) have played 46 matches across formats and won just 11. This translates into a very low winning percentage of 23.91 percent, while the losing percent is staggering high at 69.56 percent.
* Weak immune (defense) system
Besides aggressive cricket, good defensive abilities are also essential for any world-class team. And this is the only shortcoming of Bazball too. Weak defense and flawed techniques have also been responsible for Pakistan’s utterly disappointing performances in 2024. Especially among batters who keep on falling prey to identical deliveries. Be it Babar Azam’s vulnerability to full-pitched outswingers, Mohammad Rizwan’s soft caught behind dismissals, Iftikhar Ahmed and Imam-ul-Haq’s weakness against short-pitched deliveries, or Abdullah Shafique’s regular early struggles and soft dismissals. And even in the bowling domain, things are not hunky-dory. Just recently, in a space of two months, Pakistan pacers have failed twice to defend any lead against the opposition, despite the team posting a hefty 400 plus first-inning totals. In fact, even more embarrassing is the fact that no Pakistan pacer has secured seven wickets in a Test Inning since 1996. So with such a debilitated defense or immune system, Pakistan cricket cannot prosper at all.
THE TREATMENT
* Replacing quacks with professionals:
There is a famous saying in different languages that the treatment by a quack is a threat to life. The same is happening with Pakistan cricket these days, where some unprofessional individuals have made the lives of Pakistan players and cricket miserable. The aggravation of injury to Ihsanullah as a result of mismanagement by Dr. Saleem is a prime example of it. Furthermore, some apprehensions have been raised before regarding the rehabilitation process of Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, and their awful performances post-injury just reinforce such notions. Even worse is the fact that the head of PCB is also a quack given his zero to little knowledge pertaining to cricket but still was adamant on a “major surgery” that turned out to be nothing but some cosmetic twitches, which also were reversed later.
* Desperate need of new blood:
For an ailing patient, new blood inspires new life and vigor in the body. The same is required for the betterment of Pakistan cricket, which desperately needs to provide chances to newcomers who are not only the future of Pakistan but also a perfect replacement for the aging youngsters. Also, a big advantage of affording chances to youngsters is that it provides an opportunity for seniors to take much-needed rest and manage their enormous workload. Thus, the recent decision to accord rest to senior players like Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen Shah Afridi was a very bold move by the new selection committee, and it bore fruit too, as the same side, who got mauled at Multan by England in the first Test, made a spectacular comeback in the second Test courtesy to top performances from the debutant Kamran Ghulam and new inductees into the playing XI like Sajid Khan and Noman Ali. Thus, there is great proof that PCT needs new blood in his team in the form of promising youngsters and long ignored top domestic performers as the agent of much-needed change.
* Purging the wounds:
Pakistan Cricket Team (PCT) fans have suffered badly of late, as earlier their team used to miss the glory by a whisker’s margin, but now they can’t even manage to go beyond group stage. As in 2024, for the first time in their T20 World Cup history, Pakistan failed to get past the group stage, and earlier in the 2023 ODI World Cup on subcontinent turf, they also crashed out miserably in the group stage. And in hindsight, it appears that PCB was the main protagonist in the recent downfall of Pakistan cricket, as it sowed the seeds of division with PCT with its abrupt change in captaincy. This phenomenon not only pitted players against each other but also affected their individual performances. Another big wound inflicted by PCB pertains to damage to players’ egos. The NOC declination saga involving multiple players like Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, and Usama Mir is a prime example of it. Even Fakhar Zaman recently minced no words in bringing up this issue directly before chairman PCB. And besides these unattended wounds, a major scar that persists pertains to invaluable talent drain. The departure of players like Imran Tahir, Hammad Azam, and Sami Aslam are just notable examples of it.
* Removing the cancer of nepotism and favoritism:
Nepotism and favoritism are two of the worst cancers plaguing Pakistan cricket. And unfortunately, this phenomenon is well entrenched in the PCB from top to bottom of its hierarchical pyramid. Unlike popular belief, the selection of players is not the only phenomenon that gets compromised because of it. This phenomenon also acts as an impediment in the appointment of the right persons to the right positions within the PCB framework, and this consequently leads to poor and inconsistent policy formulation. And this is a major reason that the current PCB bureaucracy is a product of favoritism. Usman Wahla and Junaid Zia are too notable examples of it, as one was the henchman of former PCB Chairman Najam Sethi and the other is the son of former PCB Chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia. Recently, Usman Wahla was in the limelight for his tussle with the players regarding NOC clearance and also was an instrumental figure behind the return of former PCB dissidents Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir. And the biggest tragedy is that meritocracy can never ever enter the ranks of PCB unless its chairman is a proper professional rather than a political appointee.
* Need of a balanced and stable selection committee:
Too many chickens spoil the broth, and the same is the case with Pakistan’s selection committee, which keeps on altering from time to time. The selection committee has been reconstituted only three times since the arrival of Mohsin Naqvi in PCB. The biggest downside of having a large and ever-changing selection committee is the inconsistency in players’ selection and performances, as was also mentioned recently by former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur. He said:
“The inconsistency around selection, environment, and administration plays a role in team morale; give the players structure, and they will perform.”
Additionally, a significant problem with large selection committees is that it often becomes easier for selectors to evade responsibility or shift blame onto others in this type of structure. And the worst has been the recent decision to completely detach the captain and the head coaches from the selection process by scrapping their voting power. And it stands among one of the most irrational decisions taken by PCB ever.
* Excessive use of steroids:
The catering of physical fitness of players under the aegis of a military camp, the reinduction of retired players who mock the domestic system into the side, furnishing big monetary incentives to players to ace a tournament, the organization of old domestic tournaments after rebranding, and the induction of an elite umpire in the selection committee are some of the fancy moves aimed at falsely presenting the ever-decling Pakistan cricket look stable.
* Recent miserable performances and the impending disaster in Champions Trophy 2025:
The recent poor performances have certainly dispelled any semblance of hope for the Pakistan fans, who now would just pray to God for sparing themselves from any further humiliation instead of expecting a title defense from their team at home. With just less than four months left in the mega event, the Pakistan team looks totally ill-prepared for the defense of their crown. But if PCT keep giving free rides to players like Shadab Khan and Imam-ul-Haq at the expense of top domestic performers like Sajid Khan and Kamran Ghulam, then PCT have already sealed their fate with another fiasco and disastrous tournament campaign.
Conclusion:
Pakistan cricket, no doubt, is on a ventilator, but this sick patient can be brought back to its knee. If PCB really applies the policy of meritocracy and does go forward with its much-awaited top-to-bottom purge in its bureaucratic hierarchy. Also, PCB needs to forego its total capitulation to player stardom while selecting players for the national squad. Instead, performance should be made the prime criterion for the selection. Thus for PCB, a pressing need persists to focus on the long-term policy formulation for the betterment of Pakistan cricket rather than just banking on random wins to bury their failures of the past.
. Seems he may bid farewell soon
