Current Pakistan squad has no great cricketers: Sourav Ganguly's blunt verdict

Legendary India National Cricket Team captain Sourav Ganguly has delivered a blunt verdict on the current setup of the Pakistan National Cricket Team while talking about the recent slump of the side.

Sourav Ganguly, during his international cricket career from 1992 to 2008, played against several legendary Pakistani cricketers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi among others.

The aforementioned Pakistan players were out-and-out match-winners and had the ability to steer their team to victory single-handedly. And according to Ganguly, such talented cricketers no longer exist in Pakistan.

Pakistan cricket recently hit a new low after the home Test series defeat against Bangladesh National Cricket Team by 0-2. They were shockingly whitewashed by the Bangla Tigers after losing the first Test by 10 wickets and the second Test by 6 wickets.

Before that, Pakistan faced a group-stage exit in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, which India won. In the tournament, they faced a shock loss at the hands of the United States of America (USA), which was a huge embarrassment for the former World Champions.

Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly, while speaking at a recent promotional event in Kolkata, said that there is a 'genuine dearth of talent' in Pakistan. Sourav Ganguly said, as quoted by PTI:

"I see a genuine dearth of talent in the country. Every time we think of Pakistan, we remember Miandad, Wasim, Waqar, Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan."

Notably, one of the biggest concerns for the Pakistan National Cricket Team has been the poor fitness of the pacers as the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Khurram Shahzad, Ihsanullah as well as Aamer Jamal, have all missed a significant amount of cricket due to serious injuries.

I'm not saying this with disrespect. Pakistan of the old had some great cricketers, which I don't see in this squad - Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly further said that he sees no great cricketers in the current Pakistan team and the people connected with Pakistan cricket need to fix things quickly.

"That's the memory of Pakistan for us, but that doesn’t win matches in the modern generation of cricket. Every generation has to produce outstanding players to win, and when I look at Pakistan in world cricket, I saw them in the West Indies World Cup, in India during the World Cup, and now, after the Bangladesh series loss, there is a dearth of talent in that country.

"The people connected with the sport in Pakistan will have to look into it. I'm not saying this with disrespect. Pakistan of the old had some great cricketers, which I don't see in this squad," Sourav Ganguly said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board has tried to change things by bringing in new coaches, appointing new captains, and even bringing in a new curator, but things haven't changed.

Earlier, there were reports of white-ball captain Babar Azam and red-ball skipper Shan Masood being sacked, but according to recent reports, head coaches Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie have advised PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi against making any leadership changes.