Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
Hours after Pakistan lost to India in the Champions Trophy cricket tournament in a crucial group clash in Dubai on Sunday, the verdict was out: the defeat by six wickets, followed by New Zealand winning their respective match against Bangladesh the following day, meant the end of the campaign for Pakistan. For the stung fans, it is a reflection of a systemic collapse and internal rot coming to a head.
Pakistan were hosting a major tournament for the first time in 29 years, but India played hardball and refused to travel there, instead choosing to play their matches in Dubai as part of a hybrid model.
While India has pointed to prickly political relations with Pakistan, the cricketing head-to-head record has been in India's favour for many years. Yet, no one from the Pakistan camp lay blame for the team's exit on the shifting of venue.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand for the third time in a month on their home soil by a big margin of 60 runs. If the fans hoped that they would raise their performance against India, with some travelling from all parts of the world and buying tickets at a premium, they were treated to an insipid display by their batsmen.
Speaking to Aletihad, former captain Rashid Latif was among many former players and experts who shared some of the reasons behind the downfall of their cricket team in a nation where the sport is almost like a religion.
"It pains me to see the downfall gradually becoming severe and severe by the day," said Latif over the phone. "There is a lot of young talent out there, but we barely moved on since winning the 2017 Champions Trophy and retaining it for the longest time [the quadrennial tournament in 2021 was scrapped]. In the meantime, India have improved, New Zealand has also come up well. So the best two teams in our group have advanced naturally."
A rebellion in his own right even while playing (1992-2003), Latif had claimed in 1998 that some senior players did not want to change things while also acting as a whistleblower to the ICC on match-fixing attempts within the team on another occasion. He coached Afghanistan but that reign also was short, citing interference in discharging duties. And he again identified that as an issue within Pakistan's cricketing ecosystem.
"The set up of the Pakistan Cricket Board is such that the head of the country holds the position of the Chairman. But he cannot be involved with the daily affairs of cricket. It is time to look at the basic constitution of the board. Frequent changes in the Pakistan Cricket Board, selection committee and captains have failed us," Latif said.
Shahid Afridi, whom many players mentioned for his attacking game mindset, said to a TV channel he "had an 80% feeling that this will happen", while Mohammed Amir and Ahmed Shehzad suggested that internal groupism and politics had made it an unhealthy atmosphere for many years now. The latter also said that six senior players are "only keen on captaincy status". One of them is Shaheen Shah Afridi, who is Shahid Afridi's son-in-law.
"We have been backing these players for the last few years but they are not learning nor improving," former captain and all-rounder Wasim Akram told Telecom Asia Sport.
He said Pakistan must start with drastic measures to build towards the 2026 Twenty20 World Cup, to be held in India and Sri Lanka. "Now is the time to not only take bold steps but change the set of players. Bring in players who can play fearless cricket. Even if you need to change five to six players then do it. We have been supporting these players even when they were losing big time," he said.
Afridi, who briefly headed the selection committee in 2023, agreed that the mindset has to change. "In 2025, Pakistan is playing 1980-1990s. You can't play old-style cricket… we have to improve in all departments of the game if we have to compete at the top level," he said in another report, also to Telecom Asia Sport.
