The two-match Test series defeat at home against Bangladesh shocked the Pakistan players, the former legends, and the fans, as they could hardly believe the team’s decline across formats in recent times. That was their maiden red-ball series defeat against the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side, dropping them to eighth in the World Test Championship (WTC) rankings.
In the first game at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Pakistan struggled with the bat in the third innings, when they just required to be consistent in defending the overs on the fifth day, after a tough time with the ball in the first innings of the opponent side.
The same story continued for them during the second game, when they couldn’t bat properly in either of the innings and even after getting the tourists under pressure at 26/6, Pakistan let the game slip out of their hands. In both the games, their selection of players was under the scanner.
Yasir Arafat slams Pakistan Cricket Board for lack of planning before vital series
The former Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Arafat has blamed the cricket board for having no understanding of when they organize which tournament. He has launched a critique against the PCB, expressing his frustrations towards the decision-makers.
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The former coach has highlighted the irony of them preparing the upcoming Test series against England in late autumn by making the red-ball players participate in the inaugural edition of the Champions Cup, which is a List A tournament in September.
“This series is ending. Your grey areas have been highlighted. Fitness issues, technique issues, and pitches. Today, I heard Jason Gillespie and the high-performance coach are going back to Australia.” Arafat felt puzzled while making the discussion on his ‘Pak Passion’ YouTube channel. “You are conducting an ODI tournament. These decisions I don’t understand. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a circus.”
The 42-year-old has labeled the board as ‘jokers’ and ‘circus’, as he failed to understand how the players who would be playing the 50-over format for a month would be asked to come and play the longest format of the game.
“There are jokers in that, and this is a joke. You have a Test series against England coming up, and you are bringing players for ODIs. Shan Masood is saying in a press conference that our players have not played first-class cricket for 1.5 years.” The Rawalpindi-born remarked.
“You have a big series against England coming up, and you are playing ODIs. This looks like a circus to me. The people who are working are jokers, and their decisions are jokes.” The former Pakistan coach expressed during the conversation.
A few of the players looked out of touch during the Test series after not being a regular member of first-class cricket in recent times. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, both of whom haven’t played first-class cricket for such a long time, were struggling towards the end of the first Test.
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At the end of the second Test, Pakistan’s red-ball captain, Shan Masood, emphasized the importance of having experienced players in the red-ball format, as he failed to understand how T20 cricket would help them play better Test cricket.
“Whatever format you play is the format for which you’ll produce players. You can’t play more T20 cricket and get Test players. You can’t prepare for science and then sit for a math exam.” Masood questioned. “If you’re being tested for math, you study math. To play red-ball cricket, you must play red-ball cricket.”
Pakistan will face England at home in a three-match Test series starting from the first week of October.