Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s try to defend the nation’s Take a look at cricket struggles has gone viral, however not fairly for the explanations he might need hoped. Talking after Pakistan’s disastrous begin to their England collection, Naqvi pointed to defeats suffered by among the world’s strongest groups, together with India on their tour of Ireland in June, as proof that even the very best sides can wrestle. His alternative of instance, nevertheless, instantly raised eyebrows.
“Let me ask you one factor: South Africa misplaced to Namibia, and India misplaced to Eire. Has cricket ended there as effectively?” Naqvi stated in a video which has gone viral.
The remark got here at a very curious time for Pakistan cricket. After England thrashed Pakistan within the first two Checks, the PCB itself responded with one of the drastic mid-series overhauls in latest reminiscence.
Pakistan misplaced the opening Take a look at by an innings and 103 runs at Headingley before suffering a 194-run defeat at Lord’s. England took an unassailable 2-0 lead, and Pakistan had failed to attain 200 in any of their 4 innings.
The response was swift and dramatic. Seven gamers, together with Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Ali Agha, were sent home before the third and final Test. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul had been additionally faraway from their positions. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke had been introduced in to take cost of the Take a look at facet for the ultimate match.
It was, in impact, the PCB urgent the panic button.
That’s what made Naqvi’s comparability with India’s defeat to Eire notably hanging. Moderately than merely acknowledging the severity of Pakistan’s Take a look at issues, the PCB chairman selected to level in direction of failures by different groups and ask whether or not their cricket had “ended” too.
Social media customers had been fast to choose aside the argument, with many describing it as weird reasoning. The criticism was not essentially that India or South Africa by no means lose unexpectedly. They do. The problem was whether or not remoted upsets will be in contrast with a Pakistan Take a look at facet that has suffered repeated issues and has now undergone a sweeping overhaul in the course of a collection.
Naqvi, nevertheless, insisted that the modifications had been a part of an try to enhance the crew fairly than an admission that Pakistan cricket was in disaster.
“Sure, one factor is necessary: whoever we’d like right here, we will certainly usher in. If somebody just isn’t clicking or not performing, then what can we do? Each match and each collection is necessary for us,” he stated.
PAKISTAN WILL MAKE PROGRESS: NAQVI
He additionally defended the PCB’s broader document by pointing in direction of Pakistan’s progress within the white-ball codecs.
“Sure, completely, what occurred within the Take a look at match can’t be termed proper. We’ve misplaced these two matches, however I consider that, God prepared, we are going to make progress within the coming days, simply as we did in ODIs and T20Is,” Naqvi stated.
“I’ve by no means been afraid of criticism, and I by no means will probably be. Those that say cricket has been destroyed since I got here, take a look at what the rankings had been earlier than we introduced our teaching crew. We had been eighth in ODIs and now we’re fifth, in T20Is we jumped to sixth place from ninth.”
Nonetheless, actuality paints a stark image. Pakistan have failed to succeed in the semifinal of an ICC occasion in males’s cricket because the 2022 T20 World Cup. Within the ongoing cycle of the World Take a look at Championships, Pakistan are rooted to the final spot with simply two wins from eight matches.
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