Pakistan are undoubtedly going through their bleakest phase in cricket. Across formats, in bilaterals and in tournaments, Pakistan’s rot within is now affecting what’s on the surface. The latest display of this came with the side losing the Test series to England after two heavy defeats. These losses were hardly isolated or exceptional. Pakistan have only won one away Test since July 2023. The Lord’s defeat was Pakistan’s 15th in 20 Test games.
Knee-jerk reactions to defeats
As so often happens in Pakistan cricket, the defeats also turned on the sudden panic mode the team is known so well for. Seven players were released from the squad along with coaches Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umer Gul overnight. The seven who replaced them included five uncapped players.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, however, believes this was only a step towards betterment of the sport in the country. Unbothered by the tons of criticism that followed the sudden removal of players and coaches midway through the series, Naqvi said:
“There is always criticism when it comes to team selection and I am not bothered by it. We are answerable for results and what happened in the last two matches is wrong. But we are looking for improvement in the Test format as we have had in the ODIs and T20Is.”
Losses aren’t terminal
The interest in cricket in Pakistan has definitely taken a hit with the team’s performance across formats. But Naqvi refuses to believe that it implies the death of the sport in the country.
“Did cricket come to an end in South Africa and India after they lost to Namibia and Ireland?” Naqvi questioned.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad are among the players released from the squad.
Among the players called up for the final Test, only Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal are capped players, though they only have ten Test games between them. Besides the two, five uncapped players include Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah.
Naqvi, citing Salman’s example, said the sudden changes were made to ensure Pakistan had better replacements for players struggling with their form.
“Every match of a series is important for us and we are not left with any option if a player is not performing but to look for his replacement. The purpose behind these changes is not to axe players from contention, but just to replace them. Consider [Salman] Agha who is a very good player, but he could not click because of some reasons. He was spoken to about it.”
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