The Forever Slump: The rot in Pakistani cricket starts at the top

 IN THE 1980S and 1990s, India versus Pakistan was cricket’s foremost rivalry. In fact, it was the same till 2009-10. Pakistan toured India in 2005-06 and defeated India on home soil. India travelled to Pakistan in 2004 and won a closely fought series. It was a rivalry that enriched the sport. Not anymore. Pakistan cricket is now in terminal decline with no sign of the rot stopping anytime soon. That’s where it is a worry. For the global game, you need a strong Pakistan that will stand up and compete. Not get eliminated at the Super 8 stage despite having the best draw and the best knowledge of conditions.

Pakistan was the luckiest of all teams in the World Cup. They did not have to travel and played all their games in Sri Lanka, in either Colombo or Kandy. They had the best understanding of the conditions and should have made the most of the opportunity. And yet, they lost to England in a must-win game and failed to hold off a poor Sri Lanka. To bow out of the Super 8 stage should ring alarm bells in Pakistan.

The current World Cup is not an aberration. Pakistan did not make it to the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. Pakistan failed to make the finals of the Champions Trophy in 2025. Pakistan lost thrice to India in the Asia Cup in a matter of two weeks, and now Pakistan has lost in the Super 8 stage of the ongoing World Cup. These are hard facts and can’t be ignored. And yet, things will soon be brushed under the carpet with former players all scared of PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi and what he can do to them. As the interior affairs minister, politics is his calling card and that’s what former players are jittery of.

Some of the calls taken by the Pakistan team management in this World Cup are literally inexplicable. Why would you not play Naseem Shah earlier? Why Mirza over Naseem for two games, including the one against England? Why would Usman Tariq not bowl earlier and what’s the logic in holding him back till the very end? Why was Fakhar Zaman warming the bench when Saim wasn’t scoring, and why did it take Pakistan that long to send Zaman to open with Farhan? That’s what Pakistan did against Sri Lanka and the result was a 185-run opening stand.

The truth, however, is none of the above will be asked. If India failed to qualify for the semi-finals, Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav’s jobs would be on the line. BCCI would be questioned and made accountable by the fans. In Pakistan, however, no one says a word against Naqvi. Shoaib Akhtar, who did so, had to eat his words and clarify the very next day that the criticism wasn’t meant for Mohsin Naqvi.

Finally, the rot isn’t limited to men’s cricket. The women’s team was as bad and in the 2025 50- over Women’s World Cup, finished bottom of the table. They aren’t any better in T20 cricket, and India will fancy their chances on June 14 in Birmingham, which will also mark the start of the Indian campaign in the Women’s T20 World Cup. The U-19 team is no better and failed to make the semi-finals of the recently concluded World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Mohsin Naqvi will now do well to leave the sport to the players. Not just barge into a Pakistan practice session and throw things in disarray. Given his political position, it is natural that the players and the management will want to be in his good books. But in doing so they will end up harming Pakistan cricket. For the sport, Pakistan needs to get better and for that, Naqvi needs to take a backseat. The worst was when he left the stadium in Colombo with Pakistan seven down against India. This single incident shows what Pakistan cricket has currently been reduced to.