Pakistan’s challenging tour of England has fetched them huge criticism, and the latest to have joined the growing chorus of criticism directed at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is former England cricketer Nasser Hussain. Pakistan got off to a poor start after they suffered defeats in the opening two Tests at Headingley and Lord’s.
However, the response from the PCB became a big talking point. Following the back-to-back losses, the board made a series of major changes to Pakistan’s squad and coaching setup ahead of the final Test. Hussain has questioned whether such an overhaul was the right way to respond to the team’s disappointing performances. Seven members of the squad were instructed to return to Pakistan, while changes were also made to the coaching staff after Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul were removed as head coach and bowling coach, respectively.
“I don't think after Headingley that the world was laughing at Pakistan. My rant at Lord's about them not fighting back, about India vs Pakistan games being very one-sided and that they were a poor side playing poorly wasn't laughing at them,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.
“It was out of frustration of seeing where this great cricketing nation is now. What they have done now is make them a laughingstock. They have made it worse,” he said.
Nasser Hussain also spoke about Pakistan’s chairman of selector Aaqib Javed, who had criticised opener Imam-ul-Haq on live television.
“I cannot believe how a director of high performance can go on telly, rightly or wrongly, and throw a player under the bus. He is either injured or he is not,” said Hussain.