Pakistan Cricket in Crisis: A Call for Structural Change
NEW DELHI: The numbers on the scoreboard say 2-0 to England. The mood around Pakistan cricket says something far worse.
A 194-run hammering at Lord’s has not just pushed Pakistan to the brink of a series whitewash. It has triggered an earthquake. With one Test still to play at Edgbaston from September 9, the Pakistan Cricket Board has ripped up its own script, sacked coaches, shuffled squads and watched its former players line up to call the situation what it looks like: a crisis.
Atiq-uz-Zaman, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter now based in England, did not reach for soft language. He reached for the blunt truth.
“Pakistan cricket is in shambles at the moment,” he told IANS. “Pakistan cricket is currently at an all-time low.”
Chaos in the middle of a series
The defeat at Lord’s was bad. What followed was bewildering.
Seven players were sent home. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were removed from their roles and dispatched as well. White-ball coaches Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke were suddenly handed charge of the Test side. Misbah-ul-Haq resigned from the selection panel and walked away from his batting consultant position at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
One heavy loss, and the board detonated the entire structure around the team.
For Atiq, the timing is indefensible.
He questioned why Khurram Shehzad was dropped and why left-arm spinner Ali Usman, who had taken the most wickets in the Leeds Test, was sent home. To his eye, the replacements pointed less to strategy and more to preference.
“All of a sudden, now T20 bowlers are brought into the Test squad. Why? Because Mike Hesson has his personal favourites, and he brought those players into Test cricket,” he said.
The message to the dressing room? No stability. No continuity. No trust.
‘Either you were wrong then, or you’re wrong now’
The most stinging part of Atiq’s critique landed not on the players, but on the decision-makers who appointed Sarfaraz and Gul, then discarded them midway through a marquee Test series.
“There is no justification for it,” he said. “The same people who selected them are the ones turning around and deselecting them. That means either you made a mistake in the first place, or you are making a mistake right now.”
Sarfaraz and Gul are not fringe figures. They are World Cup winners, men who have carried Pakistan colours on some of the biggest stages. Sarfaraz lifted the U19 World Cup and later the Champions Trophy as national captain. Their reputations, Atiq argued, demand respect.
He was clear: he did not support Sarfaraz’s original appointment as Test head coach, citing a lack of coaching experience and qualifications. But once the PCB handed him the job, Atiq believes they owed him backing, not a mid-series dismissal.
“Give him a fair chance before you disrespect him and send him home in the middle of a Test series. It is unacceptable,” he said. “If the players on the field can't perform, or if you haven't selected a team capable of performing, what is a coach supposed to do? Let's see what Mike Hesson does now.”
The barb was sharp. The point was sharper: Pakistan’s problems, in Atiq’s view, lie above the dressing room, not inside it.
Imam-ul-Haq under fire
The turmoil has not spared the players. Imam-ul-Haq, sidelined by a Grade 1 tear in his left calf, chose not to bat in either innings at Lord’s. He did, however, come out for batting practice and later appeared in front of the media in shorts, with bandages on his leg and a heavy limp.
That image, for Atiq, told the wrong story.
He refused to question the medical diagnosis, but he did question the decision.
“In our culture, we are raised to be tough,” he said. “If you have a Grade 1, 2, or even Grade 3 muscle strain, you still step out there and bat for your team. Even if you get out on the first ball, it doesn't matter – the public sees that you showed heart, and they respect you for it.”
He pointed to Glenn Maxwell’s double hundred with severe hamstring cramps, Chris Woakes batting with a fractured hand, Saleem Malik facing West Indies fast bowlers with a broken arm. Those are the images that endure.
Imam’s choice not to bat, followed by a very public limp, did not, in Atiq’s eyes, project bravery.
“Even if you can't run, you can still hit a ball,” he said. “Imam-ul-Haq should have walked out to bat. Even if he got out immediately, nobody would have questioned his commitment because he was genuinely injured. But limping around in front of the media after taking criticism the day before just looks like a performance.”
He did not soften his verdict.
“It leaves a bad impression, and I have no sympathy for that behaviour. If you don't have the heart or bravery for international cricket, you shouldn't be playing Test matches. Test cricket isn't just a test of your skills – it's a test of your character.”
Players under threat, players used to it
For all the anger, Atiq has not abandoned the current squad. He knows the environment they grew up in. He came through the same system.
To him, the instability at the top is not new to Pakistan cricketers. It is a continuation of what they experience from junior levels onward.
“In Pakistan, players are used to this environment from domestic, U16, and U19 cricket,” he said. “We are raised in a tough system where you rarely get total freedom or backing, and you always feel like you are playing under threat just to survive.”
His message before Edgbaston was simple, almost stripped back: control what you can.
“Enjoy your cricket, believe in your skill set, do what you can with bat and ball, and leave the rest to God.”
Talent without a structure
Atiq now scouts for England women, Lions and Young Lions and coaches the Germany men’s team. He has seen how other systems work. That vantage point has only hardened his belief that Pakistan’s raw ability is being wasted by poor leadership.
He called for major changes at PCB level, not cosmetic tweaks.
“Hopefully, the PCB chairman changes his approach and brings in someone with genuine expertise and leadership experience to drive real structural change,” he said. “If you surround the team with quality, professional individuals, they will instill high standards.”
For him, the equation is clear. The talent exists. The framework does not.
“The talent in Pakistan is undeniably there, but without the right resources and supportive structure, these players cannot reach the next level.”
The third Test at Edgbaston will not fix that. It may not even stop the slide. But it will show something else: in a team rocked by sackings, doubts and public criticism, who still has the character to stand up when everything around them is falling apart?
