Table of Contents
Former Pakistan National Cricket Team captain Rashid Latif agreed with the British Media reports that have labelled the Babar Azam-led team as the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years.” Taking a step further, Latif called the Mohsin Naqvi-led Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) the worst cricket governing body in the last seven decades.
The ongoing Test series against England highlights the reality of Pakistan's batting line-up. The England pacers, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, and Jofra Archer, made the Pakistani batters look like a bunch of rookies in the seaming conditions. The fate of the 3-match Test series was confirmed only after the second match in London, where the Men in Green suffered a 194-run defeat.
Back-to-back batting collapses for Pakistan in England
First in Leeds, then in London, the venue changed, conditions changed, but the result and the performance of the Pakistan batters remained the same. In two matches, Pakistan batted in four innings, and in all four innings, they were bundled out before scoring 200 on a single occasion.
Missing out on the first match due to an injury, skipper Babar Azam returned for the second match with a lot of hopes and expectations. It was believed that with Babar in the line-up, the touring team would have enough strength and quality to fight against the Three Lions. The reality proved brutal for the Pakistan cricket team.
Rashid Latif describes why the Mohsin Naqvi-led cricket board is the root cause of Pakistan cricket's downfall
Rashid Latif highlighted that the problem is rooted deep in the current Pakistan ecosystem. Taking brutal jabs at the PCB and Mohsin Naqvi, the former skipper mentioned that the current board hit a low in 70 years, with the worst selection committee and coaches.
"Everyone is talking about the Pakistan team, and how it is the worst touring team in the last 50 years. But nobody is speaking about how the current board is the worst in the last 70 years. Nobody is talking about the worst selection committee and coaches," Latif said on Geo News.
From Latif's point of view, the vulnerable condition of the present Pakistan cricket team is the combination of poor cricketers, poor selectors, a poor set of coaches, and poor management, which is headed by Mohsin Naqvi, who is in charge of running the nation's cricket board.
"If you combine these issues, you will get the answer to your question. You will know who has ruined this team. Now you are losing consistently. This is the worst cricket board; that's a fact," he added.
Mohsin Naqvi's PCB threatened to withdraw the team from the Lord's Test match
Apart from the on-field performance and the scrutiny of the coaches, the touring team has to deal with other controversies as well. During the Lord's Test match, an interview with Imran Khan's sons on Sky Sports sparked controversy.
According to several media reports, the interview was seen as having more political essence than cricketing aspects. If the reports are to be believed, the cricket board, led by Mohsin Naqvi, even threatened to withdraw the team from the remainder of the Lord's Test match.
