PCB Chairman responds to Pakistan's dismal show in England: India also lost to Ireland

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has responded to their team’s recent poor show in Tests, giving India’s example. Pakistan have already lost the ongoing three-match Test series against England, who’ve taken an unassailable 2-0 lead, following a comprehensive 194-run win in the second Test at Lord’s.

Following the defeat, PCB did a major overhaul of their squad, releasing seven players along with head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul. Recently, Naqvi was asked about the team’s poor show in England. However, the PCB chairman gave a rather bizarre answer, comparing Pakistan’s loss with India and South Africa’s recent defeats to Ireland and Namibia respectively.

“South Africa lost to Namibia, India lost to Ireland. Check there, did cricket end there too? Those who say Pakistan cricket has been destroyed, look at where we were in the rankings before. Yes, we need a lot of improvements in Tests. We will improve in Tests there just like ODIs and T20Is. (On ex-cricketers criticising the team) It’s just that they want to destroy me; that’s all. For us, each and every match is important,” Naqvi said in an interview with Geo News.

Naqvi hit back at critics, mentioning that those who’re criticising haven’t achieved anything in their lives but accepted the team’s poor show in Tests.

“Everyone has a right to criticise, but those players who haven’t achieved anything in their lives and are talking like this, then it’s inappropriate. I’m in constant touch with old players and keep on taking their suggestions. I agree our Test performances haven’t been up to the mark, and it’s due to several factors, and it’s not worth revealing them right now until we get a proper conclusion. There are several factors apart from performance that we’re looking into. It’s not possible that you take a team from ninth position to the top within just three to six months. I just want to ask them to stop demotivating our players," said Naqvi.

The PCB chairman also highlighted the team’s improvement in performances in recent times.

“Ever since we got our new coaching team, we were ranked eighth in ODIs; now we're fifth. We’ve won four out of six series, but still people say that our cricket is over. We were ranked ninth in T20Is; we’re now sixth. Our success rate has gone from 24% to 73%. Still, people are saying our cricket is over,” said Naqvi.

Pakistan desperate to salvage pride in 3rd Test

Meanwhile, Aaqib Javed, PCB’s director of high performance, has promised to “take action” against Imam‑ul‑Haq, who did not come out to bat in either innings of the second Test at Lord’s. Imam “sustained a strain to his left calf muscle while fielding on the opening day” of the Lord’s Test and didn’t take part in the rest of the match.

Pakistan will be desperate to salvage some pride after having made seven changes to their team in the third and final match of the series, beginning on September 9 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.