"When I played PSL...": Kevin Pietersen in disbelief over Pakistan Cricket’s downfall

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has expressed his concerns over the state of Pakistan cricket. His comments have come after Pakistan's humiliating defeat against Bangladesh in the Rawalpindi Test.

Bangladesh inflicted a humiliating 10-wicket defeat on Pakistan to take an unassailable lead in the two-match series. It is Bangladesh's first-ever win over Pakistan in the longest format of the game. Before the win in Rawalpindi, Bangladesh had played 13 Tests against Pakistan and lost 12 of them while drawing the other one.

Draw looked like the most plausible outcome after the end of the fourth day in Rawalpindi. With Bangladesh ending their first innings late on day four, not many were expecting any team to win the game. However, an inexplicable collapse from Pakistan on day five saw Bangladesh register the historic win.

Starting the final day on 23 for 1, Pakistan lost as many as five wickets in the very first session. In the end, they were bowled out for just 146 runs. Set a target of 30 runs, Bangladesh chased down the total in less than 7 overs without losing any wickets.

Earlier in the game, Pakistan had declared their first innings on 448/6 with Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel scoring centuries. In reply, Bangladesh rode on Mushfiqur Rahim's 191-run knock to post a huge total of 565 runs.

Kevin Pietersen on Pakistan's shock defeat:

With Pakistan suffering yet another shock defeat, Kevin Pietersen took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his surprise over the state of cricket in the country. Kevin Pietersen also recalled how the standard of Pakistan cricket was 'tremendous' when he was playing in the PSL.

"What happened to cricket in Pakistan? When I played the PSL, the standard of that league was tremendous, the players had a very good work ethic and the youngsters on display were magic. What’s happening there?" wrote Kevin Pietersen

What happened to cricket in Pakistan? When I played the PSL, the standard of that league was tremendous, the players had a very good work ethic and the youngsters on display were magic.

What’s happening there?

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) August 26, 2024

2024 goes from bad to worse for Pakistan:

The latest defeat has only worsened the situation for Pakistan in recent months. Things have only gone downhill for them in the last one year or so.

It all began in September last year when they failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup. It was followed by a league-stage exit in the ODI World Cup before Babar Azam stepped down as the captain across formats.

He was replaced by Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood as the T20I and Test captain respectively. However, the change in captaincy did not change Pakistan's fortunes as they lost a Test series in Australia and the T20I series in New Zealand.

Earlier this year, Babar was reinstated as the T20I captain ahead of the T20 World Cup but the move did not pay off. Pakistan suffered a shock loss against minnows USA as well as eventual winners India and bowed out of the competition at the group stage.