Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s attempt to defend the country’s Test cricket struggles has gone viral, but not quite for the reasons he might have hoped. Speaking after Pakistan’s disastrous start to their England series, Naqvi pointed to defeats suffered by some of the world’s strongest teams, including India on their tour of Ireland in June, as evidence that even the best sides can struggle. His choice of example, however, immediately raised eyebrows.
“Let me ask you one thing: South Africa lost to Namibia, and India lost to Ireland. Has cricket ended there as well?” Naqvi said in a video which has gone viral.
The comment came at a particularly curious time for Pakistan cricket. After England thrashed Pakistan in the first two Tests, the PCB itself responded with one of the most drastic mid-series overhauls in recent memory.
Pakistan lost the opening Test 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 score 200 in any of their four innings.
The response was swift and dramatic. Seven players, including 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 were also removed from their positions. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke were brought in to take charge of the Test side for the final match.
It was, in effect, the PCB pressing the panic button.
That is what made Naqvi’s comparison with India’s defeat to Ireland particularly striking. Rather than simply acknowledging the severity of Pakistan’s Test problems, the PCB chairman chose to point towards failures by other teams and ask whether their cricket had “ended” too.
Social media users were quick to pick apart the argument, with many describing it as bizarre reasoning. The criticism was not necessarily that India or South Africa never lose unexpectedly. They do. The issue was whether isolated upsets can be compared with a Pakistan Test side that has suffered repeated problems and has now undergone a sweeping overhaul in the middle of a series.
Naqvi, however, insisted that the changes were part of an attempt to improve the team rather than an admission that Pakistan cricket was in crisis.
“Yes, one thing is important: whoever we need here, we will definitely bring in. If someone is not clicking or not performing, then what can we do? Every match and every series is important for us,” he said.
PAKISTAN WILL MAKE PROGRESS: NAQVI
He also defended the PCB’s broader record by pointing towards Pakistan’s progress in the white-ball formats.
“Yes, absolutely, what happened in the Test match cannot be termed right. We have lost these two matches, but I believe that, God willing, we will make progress in the coming days, just as we did in ODIs and T20Is,” Naqvi said.
“I have never been afraid of criticism, and I never will be. Those who say cricket has been destroyed since I came, look at what the rankings were before we brought our coaching team. We were eighth in ODIs and now we’re fifth, in T20Is we jumped to sixth position from ninth.”
However, reality paints a stark picture. Pakistan have failed to reach the semifinal of an ICC event in men’s cricket since the 2022 T20 World Cup. In the ongoing cycle of the World Test Championships, Pakistan are rooted to the last spot with just two wins from eight matches.
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