There is no respite for the Pakistani team at present. All through their three-Test series against hosts England, they were at the receiving end with many former England and Pakistan cricketers ripping them apart for showing no fight. On the third day of the third Test, they showed some character but that was all. In the lead-up to the series, Stuart Broad had predicted a whitewash. During the course of the series, Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan, and Michael Atherton availed their opportunity to slam the visitors under Babar Azam.
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Former India wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, who did commentary and analysis work during the series and expressed his dissatisfaction many times with the way Pakistan were playing, has now uploaded a video on social media in which he takes an elaborate dig at Azam’s men. Often, he is sympathetic, but largely it’s a massive takedown.
“When I did the England vs Pakistan Test series, man, this Pakistan team is very ordinary. In the first two Test matches, they didn’t even play 90 overs across two innings. The wickets were spicy. It wasn’t easy, but it definitely wasn’t a pitch where you could not play 90 overs across both innings. I don’t think that’s good enough. I think what they’re doing is a disservice to Test cricket, like what Nasser Hussain said. I quite agree with him because they made 7 changes [in the squad after the second Test] and made changes to the support staff [sacked Test head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul after going down 2-0 in the series]. In the last match, they competed,” he said.
Karthik goes on to add: “Somebody like Razaullah, who actually did well in the Test match [the third and final one], why was he not there from the start? What is happening with the selection process? What kind of players they’re having? The change in captaincy, the change in coaches, everything looks unsettled, and the performances are quite showing it. They didn’t play [well] against England, it didn’t feel like they could compete genuinely, and if I’m being honest, I don’t think they can compete against a lot of Test nations at this point, which is sad.
“They have a rich heritage, like you say, in Test cricket, but they are nowhere close [at present]. And having been part of it, I must say, it looks alarming, and I hope the right people are taking notice of that and doing what’s required to bring them back up to speed, which, at this point in time, doesn’t look easy.”