Kamran Akmal and Wasim Akram have criticised the Pakistan Test team after their 2-0 series defeat to Bangladesh, with the latter saying the loss left him feeling "embarrassed".
Pakistan lost consecutive Tests at home to Bangladesh, suffering a Test series defeat to them for the first time earlier this week. The series also extended Pakistan's streak without a win in home Test matches to three and a half years, since they beat South Africa in Rawalpindi in 2021.
After the defeat in the second Test match, by six wickets, Wasim was vocal in his criticism of the side. "It's a big setback for Pakistan, and our cricket is at a crossroads," the former Pakistan captain told AFP. "As a former cricketer and lover of cricket, I was left embarrassed with the way we lost from good positions. I don't get it. We are losing on a consistent basis at home, and that says a lot about the quality of Pakistan cricket."
While Wasim's criticism of the side was heavy, they came in for more blistering criticism from Kamran, who spoke out against the team management, captain Shan Masood, and the team's batters. Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, he said: "These guys are being supported way too much. Honestly, if I were in charge, I swear I wouldn't let Saim [Ayub] come near the team for the next two years after getting out like he did in the first innings of the second Test, especially after making 50 runs.
"Abdullah Shafique, as you can see, is a specialist opener. Whether it's the first ball or not, cricket has become so fast-paced that runs are expected right from the start. You can see that our approach is totally different; we're not playing the cricket of the 90s or 80s. Just killing time and seeing off the ball won't get you runs. If a player like Abdullah Shafique isn't scoring runs against such teams, then I think it's a worrying sign, both for Abdullah and for Pakistan."
Ayub was selected for the series against Bangladesh after making his Test debut earlier in the year against Australia. Having made a half-century in the first match of the series, he made another fifty in the first innings of the second, but was out attempting to hit over the infield in the second innings when Pakistan had already lost two early wickets. Shafique made it out of single figures only once in four innings in the series, and took 86 balls to score 37 in the second innings of the first Test.
"Our batters are comfortable against pacers bowling at 130-140kph," said Kamran. "But when they face a pace of 140kph or more, and they see that on the scoreboard during the match, their legs start to give way.
"This is a concern for Pakistan's cricket because the issue is that during their free time, 80 per cent of our players don't participate in four day cricket, nor do they like to watch it. When your form dips, the first thing you do is go back to club cricket to regain your form. You go through the process to get your form back, but here, when it comes to domestic cricket, players get NOCs for foreign leagues."
The PCB have restricted multi-format players participating in overseas franchise tournament in recent months, preventing Shaheen Shah Afridi from playing in both the Canada GT20 League and The Hundred.
Kamran was also critical of the Pakistan team management's approach to spin during the series: "The team management and captain lack the patience to develop spinners. Spinners take long overs to get wickets. Mystery spinners have come before; just look at Ajantha Mendis: early on, batters couldn't figure out how to play him, but once the worked on it, they managed a little. The same thing was bound to happen to Abrar [Ahmed], who took early wickets, but after that, you kept him with the team for a year, just traveling without giving him a game.
"How can you expect new spinners to emerge if you don't give them timely opportunities? You can see in the Test match, you've benched your main bowlers and are playing with an inexperienced bowling attack. Is this a Test match or club cricket?"
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