Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday broke his silence on the board’s decision to release as many as seven players and two coaches midway through Pakistan‘s Test tour of England, where the visitors had already lost the series 0-2. Not only did he defend the decision, he also dismissed criticism from former Pakistan cricketers, saying they themselves had achieved nothing.
After the end of the second Test at Lord’s, where Pakistan lost by 194 runs, the PCB took the drastic measure of replacing nearly half the squad and releasing Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul — their head coach and bowling coach, respectively. Pakistan sent back seven players — Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad — with the latter two not having played any of the matches, while Usman had picked up a five-wicket haul in the Leeds Test. The PCB called up Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal, along with five other uncapped players.
The move faced severe scrutiny from former cricketers, including Shahid Afridi and Ramiz Raja. But Naqvi defended the decision, saying it was necessary. He further added that performance alone was not the reason behind the purge and that there were other matters he was currently examining. He did not disclose what those issues were, but said he was disappointed and pained by Pakistan’s decline in world cricket.
“I have never been afraid of criticism, and I never will be,” Naqvi told Geo News, adding that criticism from those who had not achieved anything themselves made no difference to him.
Naqvi said that had a legend of Wasim Akram’s stature spoken about the matter, he would have taken it seriously. However, he dismissed others’ remarks, saying they did not know the whole story and that their issue was with him rather than with Pakistan cricket.
Naqvi also acknowledged Pakistan’s poor show in Test cricket, with the team sitting at the bottom of the WTC points table after managing just two wins in eight matches. However, he reckoned the team’s white-ball form had improved during his tenure.
“Those who say cricket has been destroyed since I came — look at what the rankings were before,” he said.
