There seems to be a significant meltdown within the Pakistan staff. In a shock transfer, the Pakistan staff administration has launched seven gamers, together with former white-ball captain Salman Agha, from the touring Take a look at aspect in England.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has effected a sweeping reshuffle, cracking the whip on gamers for varied causes, starting from health and type to disciplinary points.
Pakistan are 0-2 down within the ongoing Take a look at collection in England. They’ve misplaced 5 of the final six Exams, with the lone win coming in opposition to West Indies earlier this month.
Based on sources near the staff administration in England, Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad have additionally been launched together with Agha. Pakistan, after all, are already out of competition for a spot within the WTC closing.
The staff administration has despatched call-ups to seven gamers for the third Take a look at, starting September 9 in Birmingham. Amongst these seven, three gamers – Saim Ayub, Abdullah Fazal and Arafat Minhas – have already performed for Pakistan. Nonetheless, there are additionally 4 uncapped gamers amongst the replacements – Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran (Imran Randhawa) and Razaullah.
There’s additionally a shake-up within the teaching employees. Mike Hesson, who has been dealing with the white-ball aspect, has been requested to take cost of the Take a look at squad alongside Ashley Noffke. The New Zealander is believed to be in England already and is predicted to hyperlink up with the aspect quickly.
Hesson will coach the pink ball squad for the rest of the WTC matches within the present cycle — two in Sri Lanka in November and two extra in New Zealand early subsequent 12 months. Present Take a look at coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul have been launched.
The shake-up within the teaching employees, after all, is just not unprecedented for a touring aspect in England. The BCCI did one thing comparable in 2014, when it appointed Ravi Shastri and his staff of Bharat Arun, R Sridhar and Sanjay Bangar in the midst of the tour in England, successfully sidelining the teaching employees headed by Duncan Fletcher. Nonetheless, this was achieved after the Take a look at collection (1-3 loss), preceeding the white-ball collection, whereas Pakistan have achieved this in the midst of the Take a look at collection.
As for the gamers, the senior trio of Agha, Rizwan and Imam have been completely underwhelming of late. Rizwan has scored 283 runs in 11 innings at a median of 25.72, with simply two half-centuries. Agha has been no higher, scoring 221 runs at 24.55, whereas Imam has scored 178 runs at 22.25 in eight innings.
Pakistan have the worst batting common (23.92) among the many WTC groups since January 2025. No marvel, they’re on the backside of the WTC desk, having gone winless of their final 18 Exams in SENA international locations since 2018, dropping 16 and drawing two. Their final such win got here at Lord’s in Might 2018.
The Lord’s defeat on Sunday was their tenth loss of their final 11 away Exams, and it additionally noticed their Take a look at win-loss ratio dip under 1 for the primary time since 1987. They now have 153 wins in opposition to 154 losses in 473 matches, giving them a win-loss ratio of 0.993.
** Copy up to date after PCB’s affirmation **
