Pakistan's continuous nosedive in world
cricket
and their first ever Test series defeat against Bangladesh has led to scathing criticism of both the players as well as the
Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) by former players and fans alike, with ex-wicketkeeper
Rashid Latif
putting fingers on the role of individuals who have held the position of PCB chairman in the recent past.
"Jitne bhi chairman aaye hain, woh tabah kar rahe hain last four years se (whoever became the chairman in the last four years has demolished Pakistan cricket)," Latif said on his show 'Caught Behind'.
Bangladesh's six-wicket victory in the second Test at Rawalpindi followed their 10-wicket triumph in the first match at the same venue. It earned the visitors a historic first ever Test series win over Pakistan, and the way they dominated a team they had never beaten before in red-ball cricket led to a lot of disappointment for the Pakistani experts and fans.
"Who brought him (Shan Masood) as (Test) captain? Who removed Babar Azam (from captaincy)? Who divided the Paksitan team?" Latif questioned.
All these moves happened when
Zaka Ashraf
was the PCB chairman.
"So what is he doing at this juncture? Giving interviews?" Latif continued to put Ashraf under the scanner.
Doubts are being raised if the team is united at all, especially after the captaincy fiasco that saw Babar being removed as skipper after the ODI World Cup, Shaheen Shah Afridi's appointment lasting just one series and Masood's elevation to Test captaincy.
Babar returned as captain for the T20 World Cup, but the team failed miserabaly, bowing out in the group stage of the tournament.
"There were no differences between Babar Azam or Shaheen even after I decided to have the latter as the T20 captain," Ashraf claimed in his latest interview with a local Pakistan channel. "No, the unity didn't end (after removing Babar as captain). In fact, the unity improved. When we told him to play as a player, which is his talent, but as a captain his performance is not good, he agreed.”
Despite the team's poor show across formats under various captains, Ashraf refused to admit that swapping captains was a mistake.
"He (Masood) was a very good captain. He is still a very good player. He is still a captain in England's counties. And, I made Shaheen Shah the captain of the T20I team. That was also a very good decision," Ashraf further said.
"Team banana kis ka kaam hai. Zaka Ashraf ka ya Misbah ka? (whose responsibility is it to make the team - Ashraf or Misbah's)" said Latif, questioning the role of former captain, coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq who returned to PCB as advisor to Ashraf and also headed a cricket committee.
"When he (Ashraf) was doing everything, making team and appointing captains, who is he blaming then - Babar?" Latif further said. "You forcibly made Babar resign. The team started disintegrating from there itself. It was you who made Shan the captain for your own benefit, to break the team. So your team is broken now."
The victory for Bangladesh, which once again brought the knives out in Pakistan, was significant for the fact that the visitors could come back from being 26 for 6 in their first innings of the second Test and limit Pakistan's first-innings lead to mere 12 runs.
It inspired their rookie pacers Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana, who combined to take nine wickets between them and bowl out the hosts for 172, which set the visitors a target of 185 to win. They achieved it with ease on the final day of the match.
"Those who did the damage and left, how will they be held accountable? Chairman-ship should never be honorary. These guys are not audited. It should be written in the (PCB) Constitution that you (chairman) can't appoint a captain, can't form a selection committee," Latif continued.
"You have given the entire power into the hands of a chairman. They know nothing about cricket."
Mohsin Naqvi is the curent chairman of the PCB. He was appointed in February 2024.
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