ENG vs PAK: Nasser Hussain takes swipe at Pakistan Cricket's comeback tradition, mocks Babar Azam and Mohammad Amir

Former England captain and well-known commentator Nasser Hussain has brutally trolled Pakistan cricket for having a history of comebacks, whether as a coach, captain, or player. Hussain has openly made fun of Babar Azam for returning as Pakistan captain in white-ball cricket.

After the Pakistan cricket team’s poor performance at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked Babar as captain across the formats. The PCB appointed Shaheen Shah Afridi as the T20I captain, and Shan Masood was handed over the Test captaincy of the national team.

Nasser Hussain mocks Pakistan Cricket for comeback culture

However, after a series of defeats in the shorter format of the game, the PCB removed Afridi from the captaincy, and they once again handed over the white-ball captaincy to Babar. Apart from this change, PCB also allowed the senior pacer Mohammad Amir to make a comeback to international.

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After Amir expressed his desire to play for Pakistan at the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Despite retiring from international cricket almost three years ago, the PCB included him in the squad for the recent Ireland tour, the ongoing four-match T20I series in England, as well as for the upcoming showpiece event in the USA and Caribbean.

In the past, the legendary Pakistani pacer Waqar Younis was head coach of the Men in Green, but after serving in that position, he was sacked, and he was later returned to the set-up as bowling coach.

There is a history of such comebacks in various capacities in Pakistan cricket, and former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi was one of those infamous for making comebacks and retiring from the games.

Nasser Hussain takes a jab at Mohammad Amir and Babar Azam

Citing this trend, Nasser Hussain took an indirect jab at Mohammad Amir for making a comeback after retiring from all forms of the game in 2020 and moving to the UK. Even the Pakistani pacer had applied for British citizenship last year.

Apart from Amir, the former England captain has openly made fun of Babar Azam for making a comeback as Pakistan captain despite being removed from the captaincy by the PCB. Nasser Hussain said on-air, “In Pakistan cricket, you’re never retired for too long, you never act as a captain for long either. Maybe even as coach, few comebacks in Pakistan cricket. Babar back as captain.”

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Notably, Shahid Afridi has had a history of announcing retirements from international cricket and then making comebacks. He was first retired in May 2011 from international cricket in protest against the PCB. However, the former all-rounder later reversed his decision in October 2011.

Subsequently, Afridi announced his retirement again in 2017, but he returned to international cricket in 2018 before retiring again in May of the same year. On the other hand, Pakistan is currently playing a four-match T20I series in England, where the first match was washed out in Headingly.

They suffered a 23-run loss to England in the second T20I in Birmingham. After the conclusion of the T20I series, the Men in Green will travel to the USA and Caribbean for the T20 World Cup 2024.