Former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal lambasted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), urging the board to adopt a more professional approach like the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). A day ago, India registered a commanding win in the first Test match against Bangladesh in Chennai by 280 runs. Last month. Pakistan suffered a 2-0 whitewash against Bangladesh for the first time in their Test history.
Kamran emphasized that if things were functioning as they should, Pakistan wouldn’t be facing the struggles they are currently encountering. The 42-year-old called PCB for more careful consideration in selecting teams, selectors, captains, and coaches.
“PCB should learn from BCCI, their professionalism, their team, selector, captain, and coaches. These are the things that make a team number one and dominate the world. If we were so good, then Pakistan cricket wouldn’t be here. It is because of your ego Pakistan cricket is suffering,” Kamran said on his YouTube channel.
It is worth noting that Pakistan’s recent Test series defeat against Bangladesh at home has highlighted the ongoing instability within their cricket setup. However, the instability has been ongoing for the past couple of years. Under Babar Azam’s leadership, Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in the 2022 Asia Cup final and was knocked out from the Super 4 stage in the subsequent edition. They battled in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India as well, as they were eliminated in the group stage, prompting significant changes in the team.
After Pakistan’s ODI World Cup campaign, Babar Azam stepped down from the captaincy role. Ace speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi took over the captaincy while Shan Masood was appointed as the new Test team captain. Given their struggles in the T20I format, Babar Azam was reappointed as captain months ahead of the 2024 ICC t20 World Cup.
During this tumultuous period, Pakistan faced defeats against Ireland and England in T20Is, both in May before suffering a humiliating Test series loss in Australia in January. They also suffered a Super Over loss to co-hosts USA in the T20 World Cup, followed by another defeat against arch-rivals India, which saw them exiting from the tournament.
In response to this string of setbacks, the PCB announced a high-level Connection Camp, aiming at establishing an unfined vision for the future of the team. Nine players, including Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shan Masood, will take part in the camp. The players will be joined by Pakistan’s red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie, white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, and High-Performance specialist David Reid.